St. John Bosco receiver Jaleel Wadood bolts down the field toward the De La Salle end zone during CIF Open Division state bowl game Saturday night in Carson. Photo: Scott Kurtz.
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People in Southern California had been saying in recent weeks that this year’s St. John Bosco of Bellflower football team is the best they’d seen in 10 years – loaded with prospects on both sides of the line with a big-time junior quarterback in Josh Rosen directing it all.
After the Braves beat legendary program De La Salle of Concord 20-14 on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, it looks like those folks were wrong. Coach Jason Negro’s team might be the best from the Southland in 30 years.
With the victory, St. John Bosco not only ended De La Salle’s current winning streak at 40 games, not only ended the Spartans’ run of four straight CIF Open Division titles but also completed a 16-0 season. It isn’t the first 16-0 season in state history, but tied the record set earlier in the day by Corona del Mar of Newport Beach.
On Monday, the Braves will be named the State Team of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports and probably will be No. 3 in the final FAB 50 national rankings. De La Salle (14-1) will fall to No. 2 overall in the final state rankings and probably to around No. 10 nationally.
Sean McGrew’s darting moves and cutback skills were effective for St. John Bosco vs. De La Salle. Photo: Scott Kurtz.
Rosen connected with Jaleel Wadood for two touchdown passes – a 60-yarder early in the second quarter and another from seven yards out with 29 seconds left before halftime. He finished 12 of 17 for 200 yards and two TDs.
“We wanted to end the season without a loss and we had a target on our back all season,” Rosen said.
Sophomore Sean McGrew, who scored seven touchdowns in last week’s shootout win over Corona Centennial, didn’t get into the end zone for Bosco in this game but he did rush for 148 yards on 24 carries.
“Going into this week, we knew it was going to be the best defensive line we’ve ever seen,” McGrew said. “We had a great week of practice, working hard on our schemes.”
For one of the rare times, De La Salle didn’t out-rush the opposing team. The team did pick up 17 first downs and senior John Velasco capped a strong season with 21 carries for 93 yards.
“We had a lot of desire, and our kids played really hard, we just didn’t play well,” said De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh. “That was a really high caliber football game, good hitting by two good teams going at it.”
Fourth quarter frenzy
For most of the game, and into the fourth quarter, it looked like St. John Bosco’s advantages were going to result in a more convincing win. De La Salle was bogged down with poor field position and with 8:48 left the Braves took a 20-7 lead on a 29-yard field goal by Reid Budrovich.
But the Spartans haven’t done all that they’ve done by wilting away against a more talented team. With 6:27 left, senior quarterback Chris Williams (6 of 14, 97 yds passing; 39 yds rushing) tossed a bomb down the left hashmark that teammate and track star Marquise Morris caught for a touchdown. Just like that, and after the PAT, De La Salle was within 20-14.
Morris’ big catch also fired up the Spartan defense. A sack by sophomore Devin Asiasi and then a bobbled shotgun snap led to the Braves having to punt with 4:38 left. De La Salle was in business at the Bosco 44-yard line and had plenty of time to drive the field for a possible game-winning touchdown.
“On the play I got sacked, there was a busted route,” Rosen said. “On the next play, I just picked up the ball and it was soaking wet. If I would have lost that ball and we would have lost that game, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself for the rest of my life.”
After picking up one first down to the Braves’ 33-yard line, the drive stalled and the Spartans had to go for it on fourth down. They tried a screen pass, but senior Gavin Windes came up with the biggest defensive play of the night for St. John Bosco. He tipped the pass, then grabbed it for an interception.
The Braves still needed to run off 2:15 from the clock to secure the win. After a Spartans’ timeout with 1:28 left, they faced third and five. Rosen then faked to McGrew, kept the ball and raced for 37 yards to the 11-yard line. All that was left for the Braves was to kneel down twice.
De La Salle running back John Velasco tries to break free of St. John Bosco defender. Photo: Scott Kurtz.
How good was this De La Salle team?
Before answering how high to consider St. John Bosco’s 2013 team, first it’s necessary to ask how strong was this edition of the Spartans.
Entering the game, most in Northern California thought of the first team under Alumbaugh to be just as strong as the last four. The linemen blocking up front – particularly seniors Sumner Houston and Larry Allen Jr. – are considered among the best in school history and that doesn’t change with this loss.
Unfortunately for De La Salle, St. John Bosco’s linemen, for the most part, won the battle up front. It was a group led by senior Mama (6-5, 350) plus juniors Zachary Robinson (6-5, 308) and Matt Katnik (6-2, 296).
With linemen like that, plus the explosive players on the edge, the Braves appear to be stronger than Centennial of Corona of 2008, which was the last California team to beat De La Salle and finish No. 1 in the state.
A quick glance at all of the other State Teams of the Year from Southern California that we’ve seen at Cal-Hi Sports gets us back to 1993 for a team that we like just as much as this year’s Braves and that was Eisenhower of Rialto. The Eagles (14-0) won the CIF Southern Section top division title that year with a 52-3 win over Mater Dei of Santa Ana.
“They’ve got to be way up there,” said Alumbaugh when asked to compare the Braves to other teams De La Salle has faced in the past. “I’d say they’re right up there with the 2001 (Long Beach) Poly team.”
Harold Abend and Ronnie Flores contributed to this report. Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports
10 Comments
Bosco climbed the mountain. How did they do that?
Easy formula. Average a 300+ lb line (with speed and skill), have a smart dual-threat QB with a rocket arm, a NFL defensive backfield and a game breaker a la Marshall Faulk at RB. Oh and very, very good coaching to coach up that talent and game plan. Gee, why hasn’t anyone thought this up before?
Or recruit the best players outside your school district. They should get rid of all public schools and make them all private.
Oh right, because they are the only Public OR Private school to get transfers!
Um, how about De La Salle for starters?
Then is MV, SM, MD, Canyon (Valencia) and the list goes on. Again, both Public AND Private!
Plus, they ever team’s butt in the Trinity Leauge EVERY TEAM IN THAT LEAGUE GET 300 lbs linemen or a great Quarterback or Running Back!
Congrats to Coach Negro, Coach Johnson, Coach Adams, the rest of the coaching staff and especially the Bosco Football Squad!
Don’t get your panties in a bunch wifey, I’m entitled to my opinion.
Bosco # 3 in nation? Bosco would shred BT Washington. Washington’s strength of schedule is no where Bosco’s. East Coast bia’s live.
Why is it that every time in any sport that a CIFSS team wins a state title, that for some reason that team should automatically be No. 1 in the nation? Suppose Bosco also would shred Allen of Texas or Miami Central or DeSoto, too, after they just beat De La Salle by six? Booker T. beat Miami Central (No. 1 at the time), beat Georgia’s top team 55-0 (now that’s a shredding), traveled out to Vegas to win there (always hard to travel that far for kids) and crushed everyone else. If national rankings compilers have a bias, it’s not East Coast, it’s Florida and it’s based on state vs. state results in key games over the last 10 years.
I hear you on that one, must be something in the water. You have good teams but don’t kid yourself. Start playing those nationally ranked teams and see where you really fit in.
It’s no secret why they were the best. They are a bunch of cheating punks breaking every rule against recruiting in the CIF bylaws. There is not a place they will not go, a family they won’t track down and a kid they won’t hook-up. Unless they get stopped, they are going to achieve what Gardena Serra set out to do a couple years ago….be a formidable force in the nation where the schools’ sole purpose is all about athletics and NOT academics.
Way to go…..pat yourself on the back Bosco.
DLS is now 5-3 in SBG’s against So. Cal, 5-5 in their last 10 out of state matchups and 250-0 against norcal teams. Maybe it’s time for the north to start branching out and playing some opponents that can actually prepare them for the big boys.
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[…] “Going into this week, we knew it was going to be the best defensive line we’ve ever seen. We had a great week of practice, working hard on our schemes.” – Bosco’s Sean McGrew to CalHiSports […]