by Jack Turner

The anticipation for last Friday night’s season opener was contagious, as the defending consensus high school football National Champions, the St. John Bosco Braves, beat Liberty High School (NV) 42-22 at Panish Family Stadium to begin their quest for back-to-back state and national titles.

Bosco Football is playing a national schedule again this year, traveling to Florida and Hawaii and hosting teams from Nevada, Washington D.C. and Maryland. The Braves season started at home with the Liberty High School Patriots, the number two team in Nevada, according to MaxPreps. 

As the game kicked off, senior running back Chauncey “Boogie” Sylvester rushed for the first touchdown of the season and the game. 

“[It] felt great to get the first touchdown of the season, and [I] can’t wait to get out there next week with my guys in Florida,” said Boogie. 

Next week, the Braves will travel across the country to face St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. St. Thomas Aquinas is the number nine ranked team in the nation, according to MaxPreps.

In their week one matchup against Liberty, senior quarterback Caleb Sanchez was awarded the starting job after three years of being a backup. Caleb pounced at the opportunity. 

In his first start, Caleb completed 22 of 26 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns. 

“I waited patiently for this opportunity, and it finally came,” said Caleb.

Caleb was ready, in part, due to the great quarterbacks at Bosco who he’s played under in the past. 

“Obviously, I’ve backed up some really talented guys since I’ve been here,” Caleb said. “Katin Houser, who’s now at Michigan St., and Pierce Clarkson, who is at Louisville, [had a big impact]. Being around those guys every single day at school and at practice and seeing how they operate on game day really helped me prepare for my first start. I was just a sponge when I backed those guys up and I really learned a lot from their game.”

With a deep receiving core, Caleb targeted many throughout the night. Senior transfer Stacy Dobbins had five receptions for 71 yards, while senior Tommy Maher also had five receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown. Sophomores Daniel Odom and Madden Williams also both had 4 receptions. 

The Braves defense, loaded in the secondary with five and four star recruits, had an unsurprisingly strong performance. Seniors Marcellus Williams, Peyton Woodyard, Tamal Johnson, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Khmori House and Jordan Lockhart headline what is arguably the best secondary in the country. 

“It felt good to be out there with my guys again,” Marcelles said. “Every game we are just gonna get better and better because we know how important it is to our success as a team.” 

With many players leaving from last year’s team, the new class of seniors is being called upon to lead. 

“I know that now I’m senior – along with the other seniors – we have to lead by example and have the mindset of getting stuff done everyday. By us doing that, the rest of the team will follow,” Peyton said.

The defending National Champion Braves have their eyes set on another championship and won’t be satisfied with anything less.

 “The huge goal for us as a team is to repeat as State and National Champions. It’s never been done at Bosco, and I hope this is the year that we do it,” said Caleb. “I believe we have all the tools necessary to do it. It won’t be easy, but we definitely feel that it’s within our reach.” 

The next step in the Braves championship journey will be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday. The game will be the first of the season for St. Thomas Aquinas and the Braves first road match-up of the year. Kickoff is at 1:00pm PST, and the game will be televised on ESPN 2.