Mater Dei rallies from 21 points down to upset St.

Mater Dei trailed 24-3. The Trinity League title appeared destined to belong to St. John Bosco, another win to cap an undefeated for the consensus No. 1 workforce in the nation.

Until Chris Henry Jr. emerged for two touchdowns and 214 yards on 5 receptions.

“He could be a track star,” said Mater Dei coach Raul Lara, referencing Henry’s 70-yard landing catch close to the end of the second quarter.

Until Kayden Dixon-Wyatt took over alongside his teammate — both Ohio State commits — and turned on the burners for three second-half scores.

“I wish I could be the quarterback,” Lara joked about his senior large receivers.

Testing the large receiver corps of Mater Dei — who outpowered the Braves’ spectacular trio of Division I-committed receivers — left St. John Bosco hapless on Friday night time in Bellflower. Mater Dei (7-2, 4-1) completed on a 33-7 run, Ryan Hopkins tossing 5 touchdowns in that span to help the Monarchs defeat St. John Bosco 36-31 in comeback fashion.

Hopkins completed 13-of-21 passing for 295 yards and the 5 touchdowns.

All of the doubts over the Monarchs’ regular-season marketing campaign could possibly be close to washed away as the second-half domination confirmed another 12 months when Mater Dei at least owns a share of the Trinity League title.

Since Santa Margarita (7-3, 4-1) also gained Friday — defeating JSerra 41-14 — the Eagles, along with Mater Dei and St. John Bosco (9-1, 4-1) earned a share of the Trinity League crown.

Defensive stands set up performs such as Henry’s 70-yard landing grab to cut the Braves’ lead to seven with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter. Mater Dei defensive back CJ Lavender Jr. compelled and recovered a fumble in the first quarter to set up the Monarchs’ first points: a discipline objective.

Lavender then intercepted St. John Bosco sophomore quarterback Koa Malau’ulu twice more.

One decide created a silver-platter landing for Dixon-Wyatt, who completed with 4 receptions for 46 yards and three touchdowns, while the other turnover allowed Mater Dei to seal the sport on fourth and 10 from its own 10-yard line.

“Anything he threw, I was going to go get it,” said Lavender, who now has a team-high seven interceptions on the season.

(*21*)

Mater Dei receiver Chris Henry Jr. hauls in a cross over his shoulder forward of two St. John Bosco defenders on Friday night time.

(Craig Weston)

Before the ultimate interception — which got here with 1:34 remaining in the sport — St. John Bosco was driving. An unsportsmanlike penalty even supplied the Braves at first and inches from the objective line.

But a dangerous snap to Malau’ulu pushed the Braves backward to the seven-yard line. A run for a loss introduced St. John Bosco to the 10-yard line that then led to an interception.

Henry, who hadn’t performed since Oct. 10 against Orange Lutheran, said he was itching to get back out on the sector to play St. John Bosco.

“It was really difficult,” Henry said of his time off the sector. “But I was ready for a game like this.”

Henry may have lots more alternatives upcoming in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, beginning next week.

The trio of Trinity League groups seemingly will see Sierra Canyon (10-0) — which completed its Mission League-winning marketing campaign with a 52-3 victory over Loyola — among the groups they might face off against in the playoffs.