IRVINE — Reed Diehl was in Mater Dei's parking lot Friday night when he heard the news from a teammate, who had heard it from someone else.

Irvine lost.

"No way," Diehl said. "Did they really lose?"

Yeah.

"What was the score?"

Twenty to seven.

"Oh no," he said, "that can't be true."

But it was. Diehl's sources were accurate. Anaheim had beaten Irvine, 20-7. And Diehl, who had just been part of Mater Dei's 52-11 victory over Hawthorne was, in his words, "shocked."

Shocked because tonight's game against Irvine at Santa Ana Stadium lost a little of its luster. Shocked because one team had been ranked second in the county and the other third.

"I was hoping both teams would be 3-0," Diehl said. "But it's still Irvine. It's still the same team."

It was going to be a huge game; now, it's just another big game. Mater Dei is No. 2 in the county; Irvine No. 8.

It is still a huge game at the Diehl house, where two upstairs bedrooms are separated only by a wall.

One is Reed's room, decorated with Mater Dei paraphernalia and a poster of O.J. Simpson. The other is decorated with school paraphernalia, but a Jim Morrison poster hovers over the headboard. This room is Russ Diehl's, Reed's older brother by one year. Russ, 17, is also a junior. He also plays football. He plays for Irvine.

Reed is stuck in the anonymity of the offensive line. He is the right guard who fell in love with the pageantry and passion of Mater Dei football when he attended a Monarch football camp the summer before his freshman year.

Russ is a fullback who has thrived in the backfield of two schools his first two years. He went to the same Monarch football camp but wasn't turned on by the Mater Dei Hype Machine. Nor did he want to play defense, which is what it looked like he might be playing at Mater Dei. He went to another parochial school, Santa Margarita, and was the most valuable player on a freshman team that lost only one game.

"He's the real deal," Santa Margarita varsity Coach Jim Hartigan said. Real deal. Real Diehl. Get it?

But Russ missed his friends in Irvine, so he changed schools, and last year, he was the MVP on an unbeaten sophomore team at Irvine.

And tonight, Russ will do his part in trying to chop the Monarchs off at the knees with his hard-running, attacking style.

"He has a varsity future," Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said. "It might happen this year, but if not, it will definitely happen next year."