ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Garden Grove League : Mater Dei Gets Jump, Beats Huntington Beach

Mater Dei High School’s Mark Ramstack wasted little time in executing Coach Chuck Gallo’s strategy.

About four minutes, to be exact.

The senior quarterback put the Monarchs in the end zone early and often Thursday night to lead Mater Dei to a 30-13 victory over Huntington Beach before 1,300 fans in Santa Ana Stadium.

“The coaches have been telling us all week that we had to get out in front early to keep them from running the ball on us,” Ramstack said. “We knew if we could make them throw the ball, we would win.”

Ramstack completed 5 of 7 passes for 114 yards in the first quarter. He threw touchdown passes of 13 and 16 yards, within a four-minute span, to stake the Monarchs (4-1) to an early 13-0 lead.

“That is what Mark is capable of doing all the time,” Gallo said. “We wanted to get out fast tonight. We couldn’t let Huntington Beach control the game on the ground.”

Ramstack completed 10 of 21 for 187 yards and three touchdowns. His performance came against a defense that had allowed an average of 10 points and 121 yards per game. In the first quarter, Ramstack threw touchdown passes to Keith Labus and Roger Merritt, then added another scoring pass to Tony Pena in the Monarchs’ 17-point third quarter. Labus also ran 45-yards for a touchdown.

Huntington Beach (3-2) rushed for 155 yards, with Jason McGehee gaining 138. But, the Oilers were unable to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter.

The Monarchs harassed Oiler quarterback Eric Pettinato, sacking him six times. The defense also forced two turnovers, a fumble recovery by Pat Munoz and an interception by Greg Livernois.

Both turnovers led to scores.

“Our offense has now played six good quarters, but the defense has been doing the job all season,” Gallo said. “Huntington Beach didn’t score until we had our third team defense on the field. We played everybody tonight.”