BACK OF THE YEAR

Images of Matt Leinart at his best will remain forever etched in the minds of Mater Dei fans.

There was the time the Monarch quarterback completed fourth-down pass after fourth-down pass as he led a frantic comeback attempt against Concord De La Salle.

And the game against L.A. Loyola, in which he faked a pass to freeze a defender and ran into the end zone for the tying score.

Leinart, The Times’ Orange County Back of the Year, will go down in Monarch lore less for his prolific statistics - a 62.1% completion percentage, 2,847 yards and 27 touchdowns - than for his ability to make the big play.

“He will rank as one of the great ones in Mater Dei history,” Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

Leinart ended his career on a sad note, though, when Mater Dei failed to reach the Southern Section Division I title game.

“That [was] one of our major goals,” said Leinart, who is still weighing his college options.

“Individually, I could have done some things better, but I’m happy with what I did.”

-- BEN BOLCH