Sports: Spring Football is Back as Preparations for Next Season Begin
by Ian Cook
After a great 2021 season, the St. John Bosco football team has opened up their 2022 season with Spring football, college showcases and barbeques.
This is the first normal Spring football season for the Braves in over two years. Spring football workouts started in February giving the Braves a very short off-season. Now in May, the team is in full swing, getting new playbooks, watching films from previous seasons and practicing without pads.
“Once the season ended we pretty much started working out right away. There really is no offseason for us, we might get a couple days to rest here and there but with 7v7 tournaments and showcases, it’s pretty much year-round,” said junior quarterback Pierce Clarkson.
With Spring football picking up, so has the college recruitment for the Braves as well. On May 11, the Braves hosted their annual Spring Football College Showcase and Barbeque.
Head Coach Jason Negro brought in many well-known collegiate programs. Georgia, Clemson, USC, Oregon, Ohio State University, UCLA, Arizona and LSU were some of the programs that came out to watch and recruit.
“Being able to play in front of these coaches is just a blessing, being able to receive scholarships and play with the best, in front of the best, and against the best is why you come here,” said sophomore Cornerback Marcelles Williams.
Just this weekend, the Braves competed in the Millikan High School 7v7 Passing Tournament. The tournament had many good teams including Mater Dei High School, Servite High School, Santa Margarita High School and Corona Centennial High School to name a few.
The Braves ended up winning the tournament beating the Servite Friars 40-8 in the finals without their starting quarterback, Pierce Clarkson, who was at the Nike Elite Camp.
“Some big performers for us were Marcelles Williams, Jahlil McClain, Caleb Sanchez and Tyler Hennessy,” said Offensive Coordinator Steven Lo.
Although the first game of the season is still nearly 3 months away, the Braves have made the California High School Football watchlist as well as some of their league rivals, the Santa Margarita Eagles and The Team In Red.
With a nationally ranked program, comes a national schedule and Head Coach Jason Negro has not shied away from any challenge.
“We have another National Schedule this year, we play a very good Allen High School Team in Texas, then Central Catholic of Oregon and then the best team from the Islands, Kahuku High School,” said Head Coach Jason Negro.
The Braves have played the nation’s best teams thus far putting California as the best for High School Football.
“This is what it means to be national champions, we can’t just play local teams out here and hope to win a national championship, we have to go find the best teams in the country and show them why we are the best,” said Head Offensive Coordinator Steven Lo.
The Braves are once again a step ahead of their competition and are looking forward to finishing up their Spring period and are ready for the Dog Days of Summer.
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