SANTA ANA, Calif. — Bishop Gorman can’t find a way to defeat the final boss.

The Gaels, the reigning national champions and No. 2 seed, saw their 27-game winning streak end with a 31-15 loss to No. 1 Mater Dei on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

That winning streak started after Bishop Gorman lost 24-21 to the same Monarchs in Las Vegas on August 26, 2022.

This time it wasn’t quite as exciting and the Gaels are now 0-4 all-time against Mater Dei.

“That’s a good team,” Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “You can’t make mistakes early in the first (quarter). We didn’t get going on offense like we should have. … Kudos to them. Great coaching, great guys. Probably the most respectful team I’ve been around in a long time.”

Mater Dei (2-0), ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps and USA Today, jumped on the visitors early and outscored the Gaels (2-1) in the second half to take the lead in what was billed as the de facto national championship game for high school football.

Gorman showed a brief sign of life in the second quarter.

Trailing 14-0, running back Jonathan Coar and quarterback Maika Eugenio entered the game hoping to make the Gaels shine.

It worked. Coar ran six times for 42 yards on the drive, and Eugenio found Anthony Hickman open in the end zone on a bootleg for a 4-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left before halftime.

Bishop Gorman couldn’t maintain its momentum after the break, throwing three and-outs on its first possession of the third quarter.

Jordon Davison scored his second goal of the game on Mater Dei’s first drive in the second half, and the result was never in doubt after that.

Davison finished with 89 yards on 19 carries.

“We definitely had the momentum going into halftime,” Coar said. “We felt good. We felt like it was finally going our way. When we came out and got stopped three times, we really killed our momentum. Then they came out and scored and killed everything.”

CJ Lavender Jr. intercepted Eugenio with 9:30 to play and returned it to the Bishop Gorman 31-yard line. Trenton Dunn scored on an 11-yard touchdown run three plays later to put the game out of reach.

Spicer was under constant pressure and struggled to find a rhythm, completing just 1 of 4 attempts for six yards. Eugenio added a touchdown pass to Brandon Gaea in the final minute of the game, and finished 7-for-11 for 62 yards and two scores.

“We needed to step up on offense, and unfortunately we fell short tonight,” Spicer said. “As a QB, I’ll take the blame for the offensive side of the ball. Back to the drawing board and go from there.”

Ashton Beierly had an efficient game for the Monarchs, completing 12 of 14 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown and adding 49 yards on the ground on nine attempts.

Bishop Gorman quickly found themselves in trouble after a fast start from Mater Dei.

The Monarchs took the kickoff and drove 77 yards for a score in 11 plays, highlighted by Davison’s 1-yard touchdown run.

Kayden Dixon-Wyatt had three catches for 34 yards on the drive and Beierly completed all four of his attempts for 40 yards, adding nine yards on two runs.

The Gaels showed some nervousness afterward, despite having played two tough games in the season opener, including a win over top-10 seed St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) two weeks ago.

Spicer fumbled a shotgun snap on the second offensive play and was tackled in the backfield for a loss of 7 yards. Several Mater Dei defenders broke through on the next play and sacked Spicer again to force a punt.

The Monarchs quickly struck again, this time going 45 yards in four plays. Chris Henry Jr.’s spectacular catch in the end zone was ruled complete after a lengthy discussion among the officials, giving Mater Dei a 14-0 lead with less than nine minutes to play.

Bishop Gorman attempted to answer on the ensuing drive, but Hudson Borsari’s 38-yard field goal went wide.

“We just didn’t make the plays when they were there,” Browner said.

Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.