St. John Bosco crushes Orange Lutheran, quickly turns focus to Mater Dei

BELLFLOWER — Pierce Clarkson threw touchdown passes on his first three throws, St. John Bosco scored six touchdowns on its first 22 offensive plays and added another on a long interception return, and the Braves on Saturday night rolled into next weekend’s Trinity League showdown with Mater Dei by dominating visiting Orange Lutheran, 55-0.

Clarkson, a sophomore, completed 5 of 6 passes for 130 yards, junior Katin Houser hit on 7 of 9 for 158 yards and another score, and nine ballcarriers ran for 255 yards as Bosco (5-0 overall, 4-0 Trinity) amassed 542 yards — 382 in the first half, 476 by the end of the third quarter — as it romped to a 48-0 halftime advantage, then let loose the reserves.

“I am super-happy,” Braves coach Jason Negro said. “We wanted to be 5-0 at this juncture of the season, we’re completely healthy, and we’re going into the final game of the season against Mater Dei for the Trinity League title. …

“It’s been something on the horizon, it’s the elephant in the room, we can’t avoid it, but now we can actually prepare for it. This is what makes being at a program like Bosco a lot of fun, is having an opportunity to play one of the best teams in the country at the last game of the season when it means something. I think our kids are going to come ready to play, and I know Bruce (Rollinson, Mater Dei’s coach) will have his guys ready, too.”

The Braves will be looking to cut down on penalties after being flagged 10 times for 75 yards, but their offense heads into the climax of this odd, abbreviated season with extreme efficiency on both sides of the ball. The three incompletions came when a receiver slipped; on a throw just behind the target, who still got his hands to the ball; and on a deep throw into double coverage that was nearly snagged.

Clarkson’s bomb to Jode McDuffie on Bosco’s second offensive play, covering 51 yards, provided a quick lead. Jabari Bates’ 8-yard run completed a six-play, 59-yard drive to double the advantage on the next possession, and it was 20-0 after a quarter when Clarkson teamed with Rayshon Luke for a 17-yard score.

Luke’s 44-yard sprint up the right sideline — the bulk of his game-best 65 yards on three carries — added another score just 75 seconds into the second quarter, and then Peyton Woodyard returned a punt 75 yards to make it 34-0. When Bosco got the ball back, Clarkson put the ball over Logan Booher’s shoulder down the left sideline for a 59-yard score on the second play of the drive.

Houser threw for his touchdown and a 48-0 lead on the second play of the Braves’ next possession, another long ball to McDuffie on a play covering 73 yards.

“I thought we did a really good job in the game plan,” said Negro, whose team had 22 first downs. “I thought schematically we did some things where we put our athletes at an advantage in some of the mismatches. The guys made the right reads.”

Said Clarkson: “We just prepared really well, had a good idea of what we were going to see, really liked our matchups, so when I got a chance to take them, I definitely liked them, and I took them, and it paid off. As a whole, (Houser and I) make great decisions. We know where the ball’s suppose to go, we have a good idea when to throw it, good windows.”

Orange Lutheran (0-3, 0-3) managed three double-digit gains — the biggest a 47-yard Logan Gonzalez-to-Malik Blackmon completion en route to the Braves 20, its only incursion into Bosco territory — and forced a fumble and recorded one sack but were otherwise overwhelmed most of the night.

Orange Lutheran, which canceled its game against Santa Margarita a week earlier after a positive COVID-19 test in the program, played without 6-foot-5, 345-pound, Rice-bound offensive lineman Fa’aeaunu’u Pepe and 6-4, 300-pound defensive tackle Jason White, who is headed to Oregon State. The Lancers lost 6-7, 315-pound lineman Zack Miller, another key figure, to an upper-body injury in the second quarter.

Gonzalez completed 6 of 18 passes for 97 yards, all in the first half, and the Lancers rushed for minus-2 yards — with six sacks costing them 29 yards — and notched just four first downs, one on a third-down defensive-holding penalty. They did not record a second-half first down, and Bosco scored its final touchdown at the end of the third quarter, on Gabriel Burch’s 6-yard run.

On to next Saturday’s game at Santa Ana Stadium, which, unofficially, can be considered a CIF Southern Section title game — with no postseason this year — and perhaps mythical state and national title games. It will be the ninth meeting in five seasons between the powerhouses, and the previous eight decided either the Trinity or Southern Section Division 1 crown.

St. John Bosco won mythical national titles in 2013 and last year, Mater Dei in 2017 and 2018.

“I’d like to think (this is for the national championship). I don’t see why not,” Negro said. “We’ve been the national title the last couple of years, either us or them. We’ve certainly been one vs. two in the country over the last four or five years now. I think a lot of people around the country dispute it, but here in California, we think we have great football programs. … If we can beat Mater Dei, I think we’ve at least made a case to be crowned not only Trinity League champs, but probably state champs as well. And we’ll take it.”

Bosco is 9-6 against Mater Dei since Negro took charge in 2010, but the Monarchs are 5-3 the past four seasons, winning three of four Trinity titles. Both have won twice in CIF finals during this span, and the Braves also beat Mater Dei in the 2013 sectional championship game.

“It’s definitely exciting (that it’s arrived),” Clarkson said. “This is the game everybody waits for every year. Not just the players, but the people outside, fans, they wait for this game all year.”

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