Top-ranked Mater Dei (CA) gets forfeit victory for upcoming game with Bishop Montgomery (CA), which claims roster compromised by ineligible players and health concerns

SANTA ANA, Calif. – For the second straight year, Mater Dei, the top-ranked in the Blue Star Media Elite 25 football rankings, will play one game short of the maximum nine games allowed by the California Interscholastic Federation.

The Orange County powerhouse program said on Monday, it’s home game with Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) scheduled for Friday, Aug. 29 was cancelled. The Knights forfeited the game, according to published reports due to a lack of heathy and eligible players.

Mater Dei (2-0) won’t play again until Kahuku (Hawaii) visits on Friday, Sept. 5. The Monarchs won their opening day game last weekend at No. 15 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 26-23, after jumping to a 23-point edge at halftime.

Bishop Montgomery will dip to 0-2 with the forfeit and lost at Saint Louis School (Honolulu), 34-27, on Saturday. The team also recently learned five players were ruled ineligible by the CIF-Southern Section. Complicating matters when players from both sides left their benches last weekend in Hawaii in the final minutes of Bishop Montgomery’s loss to Saint Louis. – Christopher Lawlor