Doesn’t matter how much we talk about the Monarchs. It never feels enough. HC Raul Lara has done some beautiful magic with Mater Dei as the team leads the nation as the No.1 in the Trinity League. 12 straight wins? Are you kidding? Yeah, the team’s offense has been nothing but spectacular all season, but then again, how good is a “good” team if their defense is bad? Yeah, well, in that department, Tomuhini Topui has them covered. The 6’4 Goliath is someone you probably wouldn’t wanna face if you were on the offensive line of any team. Already a 4-star player, as per On3. Wild.

Take a guess: who helped build this successful young talent? His mother, of course. And as Mater Dei preps to face off against the Spartans during the CIF State Championship, Topui’s mother, Yola, has one clear message. “Go be great, my baby!!” Yola wrote a story on her Instagram while sharing a picture of herself and her son. Man, this CIF gaming is building up to be something legendary.

Going into this showdown, Mater Dei is clearly the crowd favorite. 41 points as power CalPreps, that is a big deal. See, the Monarchs are No.1 in the country, but don’t let that fool you into thinking the Spartans aren’t equally talented.

While Zack Poff did point out that it’s going to be a rough night for De La Salle because of how good the offense and defense depth of the Monarchs has been, that doesn’t mean Spartans QB Toa Faavae won’t pull in some massive runs.

But then again, when you have Topui as your guard, do you have to be scared of anything? Against that nail-biter of a game with St. John Bosco, Topui managed to snag 4 solo tackles along with a sack. Mind you, this was a Top 10 team they were facing, so there was some tough competition. Bosco managed to hit the 21-point mark, but Topui and the rest of the defensive line stopped them at that, and Mater Dei secured the win. We cannot wait to see how this guy does against the Spartans. But then, we also cannot wait to see what he does for Oregon’s defense. 

No.1 Defensive Tackle, Tomuhini Topui, goes to the Ducks

Yep. You heard it right. All it took was Dan Lanning securing that massive 32-point win over OSU early into their season to make this young man fall in love with the team. With him on the defense for the 2026 class, Lanning can rest easy.

See, for the 2024 season, the Ducks have secured the No.1 seed. If you check their games, they haven’t had much trouble with their defensive line. On average, they managed to hold back almost all of their opponents to the 15-point mark.

The only time things got too close for comfort was the OSU game and the Boise State game. If Lanning somehow manages to win the natty, then this program would end up becoming a solid choice for Topui.