St. John Bosco moves to front of Trinity League with win over Mater Dei

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The discovery in the Trinity League last week was that Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) is back. Now it's time to take a serious look at the front.

More specifically, look at the front of the list when you compare all the Trinity League records. You'll find a name that hasn't been in the usual discussions about the state's best programs: St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).

The Braves of Bosco proved a lot about themselves Friday at Santa Ana Stadium in a 27-19 victory over the Monarchs. They showed that last week's overtime win over the league's perennial doormat was an aberration, and that their 8-0 record on the field proves that they can compete at a CIF State Bowl Game level. Coach Jason Negro didn't downplay the significance of the conquest, claiming the win to be the biggest since he took over to begin the 2010 season.

"It's the highest at this point. We've never had sole possession of first place three games in (to league play) and we are two games away from winning this thing. Right now you couldn't ask for a better spot," said Negro, adding that the 44-41 win over JSerra Catholic last week played a role in Friday's triumph. "It was a little bit of a wake up call. Everybody is good in this league. The preparation is what put us over the top this week."

Maybe Darren Walker's nickname is "Preparation" - because he is who put his team over the top.

The senior running back put up monster stats of 23 carries and 175 yards to go with a touchdown, an effort that proved his reliability and toughness. He consistently burst his way up through the middle of Mater Dei's defense for decent gains, and broke off four runs of 11 or more yards. One stood out among the others, though.

As he rocketed his way to a 36-yard run on the second half's first play from scrimmage, he felt something near his Achilles Heel tighten, and instead of making one more cut for a possible 86-yard touchdown, he limped out of bounds.

The rest of the game, he hobbled on a taped ankle, but still kept delivering the yards the offense needed - sometimes on one leg.

"I felt it tighten in the first half but I fought through it. Just all determination. That is what they teach at Bosco, finish everything hard," said Walker, the team's featured back. "This shows all the doubters that we can do it, we can go all the way with this. We're not playing around, we are ready to make some noise in (the Pac-5 playoffs)."

His injury is just another fact of life in the Trinity League.

"Darren has a lot of heart and our kids know that to win this league and to be competitive, you have to play through injuries. It's a physical brand of football, one of the best in the country. That's why kids come to Bosco, to play in front of big crowds in big stadiums and to have MaxPreps come out and cover us."

The noise from Bosco's crowd and sideline dissipated on the game's first play from scrimmage, when Treavon Coley took a toss right and zipped 80 yards for a touchdown. The seats weren't even warm on the visitors' side and they were already down 7-0 to a team that had defeated them in six of the last seven meetings.

After a three-and-out series on offense, the Braves got in gear and grabbed control of the contest.

They moved 75 yards on the next drive and Walker scored from 6 yards to make it 7-7. Mater Dei missed a very makeable field goal attempt on its next drive and the Braves capitalized with a 46-yard field goal from Reid Budrovich to go up 10-7.

It looked like it was going to stay that way until halftime, but then Mater Dei (6-2, 2-1 Trinity) made the mistake of punting to Brett Baldwin. Baldwin got some vicious blocks as he zoomed down the right sideline with less than a minute left, and took it to the end zone for a 75-yard punt return that made it 17-7 in favor of the visitors at the half.

Mater Dei got it to 17-10 with a 27-yarder from Jonathan Shenk in the third but Bosco retorted with a 26-yard scoring strike from Josh Rosen to Arlandis Hinton. A safety got Mater Dei a little closer, then the Monarchs drove all the way to the 9-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. The Braves ended up getting another field goal (35 yards) to make it 27-12 and that helped withstand a late Mater Dei touchdown on a magnificent fade pass from Ryan McMahon to Ben Humphreys.

The Monarchs missed a field goal, threw an interception and turned it over on downs Friday. They were plenty capable of moving the ball on offense (they outgained Bosco 348 to 300) but incapable of cashing in for points at critical junctures.

"We had some opportunities and we didn't convert. We were deep in their territory several times. We left points on the board early and in this league you have to make plays," said Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson, one week after knocking off nationally ranked Santa Margarita. "The offense in between the 20s, I thought we were effective. In the red zone we weren't effective."

Nicholas Little was the stat leader for the Monarchs, hauling in seven passes for 104 yards. McMahon completed 19 of his 35 attempts for 192 yards.

With Santa Margarita finding its way after losing its star quarterback, Servite struggling to get back to its glory and now Mater Dei losing, St. John Bosco is the darling of the league. Things can change quickly - as the Braves nearly found out last week - but there is sure to be a lot of buzz associated with the team that is 8-0 on the field and ranked No. 7 in Southern California Division I bowl rankings.

The record is truthfully 4-4 because of four forfeits to begin the season after the Braves used an ineligible player. Negro said that hasn't fazed his group one bit.

"It galvanized us, we (revealed) it in front of the entire team and parents. When we announced it everybody looked at each other and one by one they stood and started clapping, like we were going to find a way to win and erase those thoughts from our minds."

Now we'll see if the Braves can maintain their spot at the front, with Servite and Santa Margarita left.

Qwixcore Game Log and see stats below photo

STATS

Passing
MD: McMahon 19-35, 192 yards, 1 TD; Chase Forrest 1-1, 2 yards; Mychal Traylor 0-1, 1 INT.
SJB: Rosen 4-12, 71 yards, 1 TD.

Rushing
MD: Coley 5-90, 1 TD; Justin Allen 9-42; J.C. Genova 8-29; Forrest 2-11; Jameson Field 2-1; McMahon 2-(minus 17).
SJB: Walker 23-175, 1 TD; Rosen 7-24, Jaleel Wadood 4-23; Lonell Woodhouse 3-7.

Receiving
MD: Little 7-104; Field 5-26; Humphreys 2-21, 1 TD; Thomas Duarte 3-20; Coley 2-13; Justin Norbeck 1-10.
SJB: A.J. Holman 2-36; Hinton 1-26, 1 TD; Nick Lehman 1-9.

Penalties
MD: 4-48.
SJB: 7-60.

First downs
MD: 17 (9 pass, 6 rush, 2 penalty).
SJB: 10 (7 rush, 2 pass, 1 penalty.