FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, Aug. 23 — The No. 1 Mater Dei [Santa Ana, CA] Monarchs are set to take on the No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas [Fort Lauderdale, FL] Raiders at 4 p.m. EST Saturday afternoon in one of the feature games of the Broward County National Football Showcase.
The victor will end the game with, arguably, the biggest win so far in the young 2025 season. The loser will be on the outside looking in with only the narrowest of paths remaining to stay in the hunt for a national championship.
The Monarchs are the two-time defending national champions entering the game, and they’ve won at least a share of the mythical title in six of the past eight seasons. They’ve passed several of the nation’s historical leaders in terms of total number of national titles during that span. That includes legendary programs like the Archbishop Moeller [Cincinnati, OH] Fighting Crusaders, Miami [FL] Stingarees, and Valdosta [GA] Wildcats.
Almost half of California’s Class of 2026’s Top 10 is enrolled at Mater Dei. It starts with tight end Mark Bowman (USC), who stands above all others as a 5-star prospect, but also includes 4-star talents in OT Kodi Greene (Washington), WR Chris Henry Jr. (Ohio State), and WR Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (Ohio State). It’s one of the greatest assemblages of talent a team could possibly have at the high school level.
St. Thomas Aquinas has 12 ranked prospects of its own, the best of which might be 4-star OT Mark Matthews. Matthews (6-6, 270 lbs) is the No. 2 prospect so far in Florida’s Class of 2027, and he remains uncommitted for now. Two more 4-star juniors in safety Zayden Gamble and WR Julius Jones are also in the fold and uncommitted when it comes to their future college plans. Senior CB Justice Fitzpatrick (Georgia) is the only other 4-star talent on the team.
Stay tuned here for updates starting around 3:30 p.m. EST as we get ramped up for The Sporting News High School Football Game of the Week!
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Refresh for updates …
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HOW TO WATCH: No. 1 Mater Dei [CA] Monarchs vs. No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas [FL] Raiders
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|| FIRST QUARTER ||
St. Thomas Aquinas is three and out to start the game. But a great punt, and Mater Dei takes over on its own 22.
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And we’re under way!
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|| PREGAME ||
KEYS TO THE GAME …
We’ve got a link to our full preview of this game above. But I’d say some last minute things to think about today are the fact we’ve got two experience quarterbacks, but they’re both making their debuts today with their current programs. Football is a sport full of cliches, and we always talk about turnovers and mistakes, and surely, those could play a role today. The quarterback that wins that battle probably has the upper hand.
But that being said, both of these teams are elite. They are basically small college programs from a talent standpoint. So they can overcome the random mistake here and there. So, I think another thing to keep an eye on is whether or not one team is able to start dominating in the trenches. That can help sustain drives, and even with a mistake or two, a team that can move the ball up and down the field is going to have more opportunities.
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We’re hopeful that the weather has cleared out and we can get this thing kicked off at the adjusted start time of 4:30 p.m. We’ll check back in shortly with some keys to the game.
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TEAM INFO …
We’ve got a lot of player info, but just a reminder, this No. Mater Dei squad is the back-to-back national champions. Last year, all seven current major selectors picked the Monarchs as the national champions.
St. Thomas Aquinas, meanwhile, was Florida’s FHSAA Class 5A state champion. They also have a couple of national titles back in 2008 and 2010.
In short, these are two teams with championship pedigrees, and this feels like a high school heavyweight bout today. It’ll be played on St. Thomas Aquinas’s home field so they’ve got all the advantages there. Just the familiarity, and it should be a raucous crowd cheering them on.
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WEATHER AND MORE …
Checking in on Fort Lauderdale. We’ve started out today like we did yesterday with another weather delay in Florida. But we do have an estimated start time of 4:20 p.m. EST. Hang tight, and we’ll keep an eye on things.
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TOP 25 AND THE GAME OF THE WEEK …
While you’re getting ready for tonight’s big game, get yourself up to speed on the preseason edition of The Sporting News High School Football Top 25.
Then check out our TSN Game of the Week Recap featuring the No. 14 Milton (GA) Eagles at the No. 12 Buford (GA) Wolves on Thursday, August 14, 2025.
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OUR PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAMS …
Finally, don’t miss out on The Sporting News Preseason All-American Teams that just debuted today!
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We’ll check back in here in a while with a look at some more storylines and an update on the weather in the greater Atlanta area.
MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HEADLINES …
