Fontana Helpless Against Mater Dei : Prep football: Monarchs have plenty of heroes in 46-16 rout of Steelers. Loyola is next.

SANTA ANA â€”  The curtain calls began with four minutes remaining as Mater Dei football Coach Bruce Rollinson removed his starters one by one Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

First, there was quarterback Billy Blanton, who had passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns and run for one score.

Then there was tight end/linebacker David Knuff, who had caught five passes for 113 yards and recorded two sacks on defense.

Wide receiver Roger Morante, who caught just three passes but finished with 132 yards in receptions, followed Knuff. Finally, there was running back Chris Ruperto, who gained 74 yards in 12 carries and scored the game’s first touchdown.

It was time for Mater Dei’s players to take a bow after routing Fontana, 46-16, in front of 9,500 in the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs. The loss was Fontana’s worse since 1977, when the Steelers were beaten by Fountain Valley, 37-0, in Coach Dick Bruich’s first season.

Mater Dei (11-1) advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive season and will play Loyola (10-1) in a rematch of an Angelus League game that Loyola won, 28-20. Fontana ended the season 10-2.

Blanton made short work of Fontana, whose only previous loss was 14-0 to Eisenhower, the top-seeded team in Division I. Blanton had 141 yards passing in the first quarter as Mater Dei built a 19-0 lead; the Monarchs were not threatened thereafter.

Blanton set the tone early, throwing a 44-yard pass to Morante to set up Ruperto’s three-yard touchdown run. Blanton teamed with Knuff on a 44-yard touchdown play for the Monarchs’ second score, then took matters in his own hands for the third touchdown, scoring on a three-yard keeper.

By halftime, Blanton had completed 11 of 14 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, including a 52-yarder to Morante with 5:21 remaining in the first half to give Mater Dei a commanding 26-0 lead.

Fontana tried to build some momentum with a passing attack, but quarterbacks Gary Tessitore and Chad Reed threw three interceptions between them. Fontana running back Richard Stephens was the team’s only effective weapon, gaining 201 yards in 27 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

Blanton completed the first eight passes he attempted as Fontana’s secondary repeatedly had problems defending Mater Dei’s receivers. Morante and Knuff were open most of the game, and Blanton passed the ball to them with amazing accuracy in the first half.

Fontana didn’t help its cause, turning the ball over on a Stephens’ fumble and an interception by Ray Jackson on an ill-advised pass by Tessitore. The Monarchs also took turns teeing off on Fontana’s quarterbacks--Knuff, Parker Gregg and Nickey Sualua each had a sack in the half.

The comedy of errors for Fontana, which has won 10 or more games in six consecutive years, continued in the third quarter when Coach Dick Bruich elected to try a fake punt from his own 32. The play backfired, and Mater Dei scored five plays later for a 33-0 lead on Sualua’s one-yard plunge.