CIF State Open Division football championship game preview: Mater Dei heavy favorite against Serra

With section championships and bowl games wrapped up all around the state, the CIF State football championships are finally here. 15 state title games will be played throughout California this weekend, with the five highest division championship game showdowns taking place at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

CALIFORNIA STATE PLAYOFF BRACKETS

Here’s a complete preview of the Open Division championship, a matchup between Division 1 Central Coast Section champion Serra (San Mateo, Calif.) and Division 1 Southern Section champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

CIF STATE OPEN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: San Mateo Serra (11-1) vs. Mater Dei (11-0) – Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

Mater Dei is the No. 1 ranked high school football team in the nation and comes into this game as a big favorite. Going up against some of the most talented teams in the country this season, the Monarchs have only played a single one score game in 2021 and it came in the Division 1 Southern Section semifinals, a 21-16 win over Corona Centennial.

Mater Dei's football program has been in the spotlight for the past two weeks after a former Monarch football player's family filed a lawsuit against the school on Nov. 23 alleging "negligence, negligence per se-hazing in violation of the California penal code, negligent failure to warn, train or educate, and intentional infliction of emotional distress" following a February locker room fight at the school. A week after the lawsuit was filed, Mater Dei President Father Walter Jenkins announced that the school plans to hire an outside firm to conduct an independent investigation into student safety.

Serra's season has had some ups and downs, but the Padres have persevered to make the Open Division title game. In October, Serra lost star receiver/running back Hassan Mahasin for the season due to a torn ACL and then in November, the Padres fell to West Catholic League rival Saint Francis 44-21 in a game they gave up 392 rushing yards.

Serra buckled down defensively in the playoffs allowing zero points in a 41-0 win over Bellarmine College Prep and then only 12 in their championship rematch against Saint Francis, a game they won 16-12 to clinch Saturday's state championship berth.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Mater Dei has 26 players with Division 1 scholarship offers. Their top names to know on offense include 2022 USC running back commit Raleek Brown, 2022 Notre Dame wide receiver commit CJ Williams and 2024 QB Elijah Brown. Defensively, 2022 Stanford linebacker commit David Bailey and 2022 Cal cornerback commit Cameron Sidney are the Monarchs' top players.

Serra is talented too, but lacks the depth of Division 1 prospects that Mater Dei possesses. Padres senior QB Dominique Lampkin has received scholarship offers from Fresno State and New Mexico. He scored the game-winning TD in Serra's 16-12 Division 1 Central Coast Section title win over Saint Francis.

The Padres have two D1 commits on their offensive line in seniors Nathan Elu (Oregon State) and Drew Azzopardi (San Diego State). Senior receiver/corner Sione Laulea has received a scholarship offer from Sacramento State. Running back Petelo Gi has had a huge senior year for the Padres and is another player to watch.

PREDICTION

Mater Dei 35, Serra 14