PREP FOOTBALL ’99 : NO PLACE LIKE HOME : Torn Between Transferring to Fountain Valley or Staying at Mater Dei, Matt Grootegoed, One of the County’s Top Players, Remained With the Monarchs

Matt Grootegoed expected a more relaxed summer.

He was coming off a marvelous 1998 football season, leading Mater Dei to a 13-1 record and its fourth Southern Section Division I championship in six years. He was selected The Times Orange County back of the year as well as the section’s Division I defensive player of the year.

He will begin his senior season ranked among the top high school defensive backs in the nation and as a two-way starter on the top-ranked team in Division I.

But in the summer Grootegoed was involved in a tug of war between his emotions and his family over where he would play his senior season--Mater Dei or Fountain Valley.

Eric Johnson, who had been defensive coordinator at Mater Dei, was hired as head coach at Fountain Valley after George Berg resigned. Johnson, one of Grootegoed’s favorite coaches, added Grootegoed’s older brother, John, to his staff.

If the family tie wasn’t enough, there was Grootegoed’s desire to be a starting quarterback his senior year. And, at least to those on the outside, it appeared there were no guarantees he would get that job at Mater Dei.

“People kept asking me about Fountain Valley,” Grootegoed said. “I’d just say that I wasn’t sure if I was going there. And that’s all I said. I wouldn’t commit one way or the other.

“I would like to play quarterback because I’d played it my whole life. But I’d never started as a quarterback on varsity, and one of my goals was to start at quarterback at Mater Dei.”

Grootegoed said he did consider transferring. But once he started summer practice at Mater Dei he knew he couldn’t leave. And that’s what he told his father.

“Mater Dei is my home,” Grootegoed said. “I made my name here. All my friends are here. It would have been hard to leave it.”

His father, Russell Grootegoed, said he thought his son had played well enough to be the starting quarterback last year. “But that’s my opinion; I’m not the coach,” he said. And while he said his son--the youngest of his and wife Jo Anne’s six children--was “pretty good at tailback,” he, too, wanted Matt to have a chance at quarterback.

“But even though we thought seriously about Fountain Valley, it was Matt’s decision,” his father said. “When he told us he wanted to stay at Mater Dei, even if he wasn’t the quarterback, that was fine with me and Jo Anne.”

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson, who officially made Grootegoed the starting quarterback at the start of summer practice, said the issue was a nonissue as far as he was concerned.

“I know people will interpret the move at quarterback as being part of a deal,” Rollinson said. “But the reality is Matt was the starting quarterback the day the [1998] season ended.

“He is bona fide on defense; that’s where he will play in college. But people have not seen all the firepower he will bring to the offense. He will start at quarterback. And I may have the best 1-2 punch at quarterback in California. We can also go with [junior] Matt Leinert, a more pure passer. He had a tremendous summer. But Matt Grootegoed starts.”

Rollinson said the Monarchs will use the same system on offense he has used with all his quarterbacks with one exception: “We will run more option with Matt than we have shown in the past. We have worked with the shotgun formation to get him back. We’re not afraid to run the ball with Matt at quarterback, and I think he can shock people with his throwing ability.”

Grootegoed, who is being recruited by UCLA, USC, Michigan and Ohio State, said it will be difficult to top last season.

“Did last year seem like a dream? Very much so,” Grootegoed said. “The first game and the third game, we’re playing some of the top schools in California. We figured if we played well and won either of those games, we’d have a good season. We beat Clovis and we lost to De La Salle, and we knew we could have beaten them. We made too many mental mistakes in the first half.

“Then we rolled through the [South Coast] league, and playoffs were a whole new thing. Our offense had jelled and the defense was clicking. Everything was clicking. We were putting points on the board, stopping offenses, the coaches had the right schemes for every game. We were so ready.”

On defense Grootegoed was a bulldozer disguised as a free safety. He didn’t just stop ballcarriers, he flattened them. He led Mater Dei in tackles with 90, and more than a handful were highlight-film quality.

“We’ve never had anyone fill the run lanes the way Matt does, read the plays as fast as he does, and is so vicious with the tackle after a running start,” Rollinson said.

Grootegoed also came to the rescue of the Monarchs’ offense. Starting tailback Junior Palacios was slowed with injuries when Grootegoed--then backup to quarterback Scott Lukash--became the starting running back in the season’s fourth week. He finished with 1,238 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns.

He saved the best for last: 244 yards and two touchdowns in Mater Dei’s 33-26 victory over defending champion Long Beach Poly in the Division I final.

“After nearly shutting out Los Alamitos the week before, I went into the Poly game thinking there was no way we could lose,” Grootegoed said. “I just knew it, from seeing the offensive and defensive schemes. They were perfect. I had no doubts we would win. And we did.”

For his senior year, Grootegoed said his goals are few, but specific. “I’ll decide on college before the season starts. And I want to beat the [defensive] stats I had last year, whether it’s by one or a whole bunch. And win games. Nothing takes the place of winning a championship.”

He is eager for the rematch with De La Salle, which begins the season with a national-record 88-game winning streak. He won’t predict the outcome of the Sept. 25 game in Stockton, but said the Monarchs will have a different attitude this time.

“I remember we went into the game feeling ready. But when we saw them warming up, everybody was in awe,” Grootegoed said. “Their streak, their presence--it got to us in the first half. Now we know what they are like, that we can hang with them. We just have to go out there and play.”

Grootegoed said last year’s game was hard-hitting but clean. At least the parts of the game he remembers.

“I got knocked out in the first half and don’t remember most of it. I think it happened in the second quarter. I was on defense and got hit on a play, I think, by [fullback] D.J. Williams, and for about 15 minutes I couldn’t remember who hit me. But they fixed me up at halftime.”

Because Grootegoed is integral to Mater Dei’s success on offense and defense, it would not be surprising if opposing teams tried to wear him out with extra blockers when he’s trying to stop the run, or having their defenders hit him every play when Grootegoed is at quarterback.

Offensive coordinator Dave Money said the Monarchs have a variety of ideas to keep Grootegoed from being a constant target.

“Remember Scott Frost?” said Money, referring to the former Nebraska quarterback. “Grooty resembles him. So we got some [plays] from Nebraska that they ran for Frost.

“Going to the shotgun gives us the ability to spread defenses and force them to decide whether to cover the pass routes or stop Matt’s runs. We feel we have the wide receivers to spread the ball around and still be able to run tailback plays with the quarterback. I believe he can hold up, and when teams are spread out that can take some pounding away. And Matt can throw, so he will just not run the ball.”

Grootegoed said he will try to handle whatever opponents try to do to him.

“I’ve done this since my freshman year,” Grootegoed said. “I’ve been through a lot of games where I never came out of the game. And our conditioning program here is tops. I expect to be physically ready.

“I’ll expect teams to single me out after the season I had last year. They’ll take shots at me. I’ve just got to take it and keep on going.”