Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, Stanford’s David Shaw to be at Mater Dei, Servite game
One of the most highly anticipated high school football games of the year will feature top talent both on and off the field. On the field, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Anaheim (Calif.) Servite will feature double-digit major college prospects and will have high school national championship implications.
Mater Dei is ranked in the county as the top high school team, while Servite is No. 8.
Standing on the sidelines Saturday night will be Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and Stanford head coach David Shaw, according to a report from 247 Sports Greg Biggins.
All eyes on 2024 Mater Dei QB Elijah Brown
Mater Dei has a reputation for producing some of the nation’s best quarterbacks. And there’s no question Shaw and Sarkisian are going to be focused on Mater Dei sophomore quarterback Elijah Brown.
Brown is only the fourth freshman to start at Mater Dei after Matt Barkley, Todd Marinovich and JT Daniels. Barkley and Marinovich both played in the NFL, and Daniels is a quarterback at Georgia.
For the season, Brown has 1,311 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He threw for 973 yards and 15 touchdowns in the COVID shortened spring season as a freshman. Even though it’s early in his career, he’s being compared to former Mater Dei and current Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
Brown has offers already from Arizona, Ole Miss, Pittsburg, USC and Utah. But that list will continue to grow – especially with top head coaches watching from the sidelines. The Ole Miss offer came in early on in October.
Game features 5 2022 On300 prospects
There’s so much talent in this matchup, but the headliner in the senior class is USC commit Domani Jackson of Mater Dei. The five-star cornerback ranks as the No. 10 player in the country. Jackson remains committed to the Trojans but has been looking at Alabama (Nov. 6 visit) and Michigan (Sept. 11 visit).
Jackson, who is injured, normally would be locked upone-on-one with Oregon commitment Tetairoa McMillan, Servite’s star receiver. McMillan, the nation’s No. 65 overall player, owned the matchup last season with six receptions for 93 yards and one touchdown grab. He also caused Jackson to record six defensive pass interference calls.
McMillan remains on board with the Ducks, despite continued pushes from other schools throughout the country. This includes some not-so-subtle Twitter recruiting from Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch. Servite also has four-star senior tight end Keyan Burnett, who is committed to Arizona.
Oklahoma receiver/all-purpose back commitment Raleek Brown is another big-time prospect playing in the game. Brown, the No. 138 player in the senior class, continues to say he’s solid with OU, but other schools haven’t relented in their pursuit.
Mater Dei linebacker David Bailey is the No. 144 player overall in the senior class, and arguably the best overall athlete on the field. He had four sacks in the game last season and is looking hard at USC, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, Cal and others.
Other names to watch out for from Mater Dei, Servite
The list of top recruits in the game goes well beyond just Jackson and Brown. Here’s a look at some other game-breakers that’ll be featured Saturday night:
Mater Dei
- Consensus four-star 2022 WR C.J. Williams
Notre Dame commit - Consensus three-star 2022 LB Eoghan Kerry
Texas commit - Consensus three-star 2022 CB Josh Hunter
San Diego State commit - Consensus three-star 2022 CB Cameron Sidney
Cal commit - Consensus three-star 2022 LB Malaki Te’o
- Consensus four-star 2023 DL Leviticus Su’a
Servite
- Consensus three-star 2022 DL Mason Graham
Michigan commit - Consensus three-star 2022 QB Noah Fifita
Arizona commit - Consensus three-star 2022 LB Jacob Manu
Arizona commit