Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran top the Pac-5

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With all due respect to Crespi, Mission Viejo and Long Beach Poly, it sure looks like the favorites for the Pac-5 Division championship are coming from the Trinity League.

Did two teams make a more convincing statement Friday than Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran? Mater Dei’s victory over Edison, 42-14, and Orange Lutheran’s victory over Los Alamitos, 31-8, was complete in every way.

For what it’s worth, Edison and Los Alamitos are the front-runners from the Sunset League.

Sure, Poly is still out there, and on a good night the Jackrabbits might beat one of the elite teams. But so far, Poly hasn’t exactly established itself as a team that can play four quarters against such competition.

Mission Viejo? The Diablos have beaten their one Southland opponent, 34-14, but last I looked, no one was comparing Redondo to Edison -- or Los Al.

Crespi continues to be impressive, despite the loss of quarterback Kevin Prince. But can a team that gave up 41 points (albeit to Corona Centennial) produce the kind of balance it takes to beat Mater Dei or Lutheran?

Something tells me that as long as Mater Dei and Lutheran remain healthy, the state’s best division is going to come down to these two teams.

I’ll get my first in-person look at Mater Dei (4-0) this week against Centennial, but there wasn’t anything unimpressive about Lutheran (5-0). Tight end Blake Ayles said his team’s offense can still step it up. He’s right, if the Lancers really need to score on every possession. Which they don’t. Against a quality program, senior quarterback Blake Hyepock –- who is as underrated as they come -– looked like the highly touted QB instead of his opponent, Clark Evans. Hyepock was sharp as a razor.

“I thought we rose to the occasion against the best team we’ve played, by far,” said Jim Kunau, Lutheran’s coach. “They’re a much better team than the score indicated.”

And that just goes to show how good Lutheran is. That’s not to say it couldn’t stumble. Remember, it was beaten in overtime last season by Servite. But I came away so impressed with the Lancers.

And this is a team that lost quarterback Aaron Corp (USC), defensive end Michael Reardon (USC) and receiver Austin Pettis (Boise State). They really were an unknown quantity coming into this season in terms of how good they really are. They’re not unknown any more.

And Mater Dei? The Monarchs finally played an opponent befitting their reputation –- and lived up the expectations. There’s a lot of football to be played, including Nov. 2 when they Mater Dei and Lutheran meet at Santa Ana Stadium. My guess is that it’s a preview of what’s to come a month later at the Home Depot Center.

- Martin Henderson