Mater Dei outlasts St. Frances: Live score, game updates (9/20/2024)

Get live updates as top-ranked Mater Dei hosts St. Frances Academy in a California-Maryland high school football battle

Mater Dei quarterback Ashton Beierly drops back to pass against Bishop Gorman. / Photo by Heston Quan

National No. 1 Mater Dei will look to improve to 4-0 on Friday night when they welcome Maryland high school football juggernaut St. Frances Academy to Santa Ana.

The Monarchs have solidified their spot atop the SBLive/SI Top 25 national high school football rankings with a pair of wins over other ranked or previously-ranked teams, which they followed up with a 38-7 victory over Kahuku (HI) last week.

St. Frances was ranked as high as No. 12 after winning its first two games of the season, but the Panthers fell out of the national rankings this week after back-to-back losses by four points or less to No. 4 Duncanville (TX) and then-No. 17 Orange Lutheran (CA).

LIVE CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES

Follow along below for live updates and refresh this page for the latest news.

FINAL: MATER DEI 25, ST. FRANCES 14

FOURTH QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN ST. FRANCES! A nice pass from the Panthers helps them close the gap, but with just three seconds left, this one is over. St. Frances trails 25-14.

ONSIDE KICK! St. Frances goes for the onside kick and comes up with the ball. Panthers' ball with 4:05 left.

TOUCHDOWN ST. FRANCES! Bryce Dees breaks off a huge run to get the Panthers on the board. St. Frances trails Mater Dei 25-8.

MATER DEI FIELD GOAL! Dominic Zante nails a 26-yard field goal and Mater Dei leads 25-0.

INTERCEPTION MATER DEI! Danny Lang picks off St. Frances and Mater Dei has the ball again.

TOUCHDOWN MATER DEI! Dash Beierly hits Marcus Harris on a short slant and the Monarchs have their third TD of the night. Mater Dei leading 22-0 with 11:57 left in this one.

THIRD QUARTER

INTERCEPTION MATER DEI! Third quarter ends after Semi Taulanga intercepts a pass and returns it to the 4-yard line. Mater Dei will have first and goal to begin the fourth.

Short pass is intercepted by to end the quarter. He returns it to the SFA 4 yard line. Back to back weeks with one of the big boys getting a pick. MD 1st down.

INTERCEPTION MATER DEI! Aaryn Washington picks off an errant pass and the Monarchs have the ball on their own 10 with 4:50 left in the third.

The Monarchs go for it on 4th and 10 but the pass is incomplete. St. Frances takes over on its own 40.

SECOND QUARTER

St. Frances put together a decent drive to end the quarter, but the Panthers were unable to breakthrough as the first half comes to a close.

TOUCHDOWN MATER DEI! It took several attempts, but the Monarchs eventually punched it to expand their lead. Mater Dei is up 15-0 with about 90 seconds left in the first half.

FUMBLE! After stopping Mater Dei on the one-yard line, St. Frances forces a fumble and has the ball on its own seven with 8:34 remaining in the half.

FIRST QUARTER

First quarter comes to a close with Mater Dei still holding an 8-0 lead.

TOUCHDOWN MATER DEI! The Monarchs strike first as Trenton Dunn picks up his third rushing touchdown of the year. They are successful on the two-point conversion. Mater Dei leads 8-0 with 5:18 left on the first quarter clock.

Mater Dei will have the ball on its own 29 after a St. Frances punt on the first drive of the game.

St. Frances starts with the ball on its own 20-yard line after a Mater Dei touchback on the opening kickoff.

PREGAME

These two teams met in Baltimore last season, with Mater Dei surviving for a 20-7 win.

St. Frances held the Monarchs to just 166 yards of total offense in that game, but the Mater Dei defense turned two turnovers into touchdowns to pick up the slack.

Mater Dei currently has an 18-game winning streak going against out-of-state opponents.

-- Sam Brown | sam@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

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