Top-ranked Mater Dei jumps on No. 9 St. Thomas Aquinas, then holds off Raiders to begin season

California powerhouse Mater Dei jumped out to a 23-point halftime lead and held off a frantic second-half charge by host St. Thomas Aquinas to pull out a 26-23 victory in the Broward County National Showcase on Saturday in a battle of Top-10 nationally ranked teams.

After the Raiders took a 3-0 lead with 3:40 left in the first quarter on a 35-yard field goal by Johnny DiSalvatore, Mater Dei, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team for the past three years, went to work.

Senior quarterback Ryan Hopkins, a four-star Wisconsin commit, who began the game 1 for 4 for 4 yards, caught fire in the second quarter, steering the Monarchs to four scores and 26 points to grab a 26-3 halftime cushion.

Hopkins went 7 of 9 for 228 yards and touchdown throws of 22, 62, and 81 yards — two going to 6-foot-5 senior WR Chris Henry, the nation’s No. 1 receiver and an Ohio State commit, and the other (62 yards) to junior Gavin Honore. Junior running back and UMass commit Justin Lewis also scored on a 5-yard run to finish off the scoring. They scored on four straight possessions in the quarter.

St. Thomas Aquinas cut the lead to 26-10 thanks to 45 yards in penalties on a 10-play, 67-yard drive, which was capped by a 3-yard run by junior running back Virgil Lemmons with 3:28 to go in the third quarter.

The Raiders’ defense rose to the occasion in the second half and shut out the Monarchs.

St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked No. 9 in the country, cut the deficit to 26-16 on a 7-yard keeper by quarterback Mason Mallory with 9:44 remaining. The score followed a goal-line stand on the previous series by the Raiders.

“Going into halftime, the emphasis was we can bend but we can’t break,” Mallory told ESPN during the broadcast. “We are not quitters. We feed off each other. The defense gets a stop, and the offense is motivated to put some points on the board.”

The Raiders, who are bidding to extend their record six straight state football championships, trimmed the lead to one score with 1:36 left in the game on a 7-yard scoring toss from Mallory to Julius Jones. Mallory finished the game with 87 yards passing and 76 yards on the ground.

Mater Dei, winners of five of the past seven CIF Open Division Championships in California, got the ball back and ran out the clock for its 20th straight victory dating back to the 2023-24 season.

St. Thomas Aquinas WR/DB Justice Fitzpatrick, a Sun Sentinel two-time Super 11 selection, missed the game with an injury. He is the younger brother of Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.