by Diego Santizo, Sports Editor

The Braves are ready to take the field in Santa Ana to once again assert their dominance as the best high school football team in the nation.

Since 2014, there hasn’t been a bigger high school football rivalry in the region, state and country then St. John Bosco and team in red from Orange County.  

The two national powers have met 10 times in that span and it’s been either to decide a Trinity League, Southern Section or Southern California regional title. 

All eyes, computer screens, binoculars, smart phones and TV cameras will be focused on Santa Ana Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday when both powerhouses tangle to unofficially decide which is the best team not only in Southern California, but also the state and perhaps even the nation. 

The two national elites have been sparring, jabbing and throwing haymakers since 2016 to officially decide the Southern Section’s Division I champion, which has parlayed into national ramifications, rankings and even championships. 

In their last 10 contests, each has won five times. The cumulative score in those games: St. John Bosco 295, Orange County team 287. 

The top two ranked teams in the Golden State have been pegged also among the top five squads in the country the last five years and would have been once more in 2020 had the season not been postponed to the spring due to the pandemic. 

With no league, section or state playoffs offered, and Saturday being the last date football teams are allowed to play in the Southern Section, Bosco versus team in red is billed as the unofficial state championship. The Orange County team is No. 1 in the state according to MaxPreps Top 25 California rankings while St. John Bosco is No. 2. 

Last week Pierce Clarkson threw touchdown passes on his first three throws and St. John Bosco scored six touchdowns on its first 22 offensive plays in what would end up being a dominating victory over the visiting Orange Lutheran by a score of 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 including 382 in the first half and 476 by the end of the third quarter.

Bosco went into half-time leading 48-0 and would then let loose the reserves for the whole second half of the game.

Meanwhile, the opponent for Saturday consisted of freshman quarterback Elijah Brown throwing for four first-half touchdowns and running back Raleek Brown rushed for two scores as they headlined a 49-13 victory against No. 4 Santa Margarita at Santa Ana Stadium.

All hell is going to break lose in Santa Ana and normally more than 5,000 fans would jam into Santa Ana Stadium, but only a little more than 1,000 will be allowed in the stadium for Saturday’s game due to social distancing precautions. 

by Andrew Fierro

Bosco Wrestling is back in a new format which has already affected the wrestlers and their seasons leaving an impact on the future of their wrestling careers.

Though the wrestling season for most of the wrestlers starts in the fall of every year, this year due to restrictions from Covid-19 the season isn’t getting underway until late April and into May.

With the restrictions from Covid-19 the seasons format will be updated with new schedules and different outlooks on duals. There will be no tournaments and instead will have duals and a will indeed have a CIF Dual Championship at the end of the season. This is different from the usual season with a variety of team duals and individual tournaments for the wrestlers.

The biggest update for the season is the unlikelihood of a state championship tournament. With no tournament at this scale it will have a major effect on the seniors wrestling who are scholarship hopefuls. Without this type of stage that will give the seniors the chance to make a name for themselves it will become more difficult for the wrestlers to get the notoriety of different colleges in hopes for scholarship opportunities.

Many seniors who are not looking to wrestle in college will also be heavily impacted because of the loss of a large portion of their last season. Many wrestlers from all over the state will be disappointed to not have the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

One senior who was hoping to have a standout performance in the 2021 wrestling season to help boost his scholarship opportunities was Bosco Wrestler Jasper Centeno.

“The season usually is able to provide us with exposure to college scouts, so with the season being dramatically reduced, it has a large effect on being scouted,” said Jasper.

Though he has had to deal with lots of issues with the season Jasper shows excitement towards the season and being able to wrestle.

“I’m just happy I will be able to participate in something in my final year,” said Jasper.

It’s been hard for wrestlers like him and many others who may have lost focus and motivation for the oncoming season which is something that Jasper spoke on. 

“It’s easy to stay lazy and not better yourself, you have to make that choice to get up and improve yourself,” said Jasper.

Many seniors like him are going through the exact same issue and are being hit hard with the chance of not being able to get offers to wrestle at a higher level college next year. Covid has had a drastic effect on the way colleges scout, though seniors are not the only ones going through tough times due to covid. 

Another wrestler having to fight through the adversity caused by covid this season is junior Bosco Wrestler Oscar Aranda. Oscar Aranda has also dealt with many challenges going into this season and is disappointed that the season is not as long as usual which doesn’t bring the same excitement as usual. His biggest disappointment is in the unlikelihood of a state tournament.

“The changes to the season are restraining and the possibility of no state tournament is bad because it is the highlight of many wrestlers’ high school careers,” said Oscar.

There are also limitations on practice and with all of the wrestlers being unable to practice up until now it will be hard for them to compete at the best of their abilities. There will be strict policies from each school in the CIF that will limit the amount of participants and what the criteria is to be able to participate.

Though one good thing that has come out of covid is the eagerness it has given the wrestlers to compete. The wrestlers have been starved from not only competition but even practice which has caused wrestlers like Oscar to become anxious to get back to it.

“Yes not being able to practice much has made me hungrier to get back on the mat which I believe is a good thing,” said Oscar.

As the season begins Bosco Wrestling looks to keep that high status in the wrestling community and continue their dominance throughout the year with hungry wrestlers who are eager to get back to sport. 

by Diego Santizo, Sports Editor

The Braves look to head into Santa Ana next weekend with momentum as they look to stay undefeated in 2021.

Last Saturday afternoon, the home crowd was treated to a show as the Braves took yet another big step toward the season with a clinical 66-14 rout of the visiting JSerra.

Bosco (4-0, 3-0 Trinity) scored touchdowns on its first, third, seventh, 11th, 19th, 21st and 25th offensive plays, rolling up a 35-0 advantage by the end of the first quarter, pushing that to 49-0 after seven possessions and to 59-7 by halftime.

The Braves rolled up 419 total yards in the first half, 491 for the game and missed the end zone just twice all afternoon, settling for a Andre Meono field goal near the end of the first half and, with mostly reserves on the field, forced to punt in the third quarter.

They scored in special teams thanks to Rayshon Luke’s 85-yard punt return at the end of the first half and on defense after Zion Austin’s had a school-record 96-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter.

“We played really well, cleaned up a lot of the mistakes,” “We had just two penalties, we had no miss-tackles, and we executed. All the balls we threw were on time, we made our blocks, and we got so far ahead of them that we just overwhelmed them” Negro said in an interview with the Long Beach Press Telegram

The Braves will now turn their attention towards Orange Lutheran, who have just scored 20 points in its two games. Both resulted in losses to Servite (69-13) and Mater Dei (49-7). Lancers junior quarterback Logan Gonzalez threw for 197 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Servite.

The Braves have been using two quarterbacks, sophomore Pierce Clarkson and junior Katin Houser and both have had success.

Clarkson has passed for 406 yards and six TDs while completing 71.9% and has also rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown. Houser has thrown for 432 yards and six TDs and has completed 65.9% of his passes. Neither has thrown an interception.

The St. John Bosco running game — led by junior Rayshon Luke — is averaging 8.6 yards per carry. Luke has gone for 267 yards and four TDs on just 18 carries, a 14.8 average.

St. John Bosco’s first five games in this spring football season are all about preparing for the sixth and final outing, against Mater Dei to determine the Trinity League champion.

Negro knows his players are looking ahead to that game, even with Orange Lutheran headed to Bellflower on Saturday, and that’s totally okay. The eight meetings the past four seasons have decided the Trinity League or CIF Southern Section titles, and although there will be no playoffs this season, they see the April 17 faceoff at Santa Ana Stadium as a CIF final. Bosco was No. 1 in the nation in 2019, while Mater Dei had the title in 2017 and 2018.

“We mention it all the time,” Negro said. “You can’t hide from it. I mean, our kids know. We’re certainly not looking past our opponents, but it’s the elephant in the room, and we’re going to recognize it, because I think that’s the one thing we’ve done in our program the whole time, is we know what’s on the horizon, we know what we need to be successful in that game, and we’re going to use these opportunities before it to get there.”

Apart from Saturday’s game against Orange Lutheran, there will be a special Homecoming presentation taking place at half time where the first ever Homecoming King will be named! The nominees are Seniors Anthony Mejia, Andrew Cruz, and James Pearce.

Not only will there be a special presentation on halftime, but after the game there will be an afterparty taking place in the Quad. Students from Bosco and St. Jospehs are welcomed to attend as long as they show their wristband which will be available for pick up in front of the MPR from 6-7 PM.

The afterparty will be a nice little taste of what Homecoming could have been if the pandemic never struck and will conclude at 11:00 PM.

by Diego Santizo, Sports Editor

Despite only leading by one at halftime, Bosco rolled over Santa Margarita in the second half and is now ready to take on Servite tonight.

The high school football spring season in California enters its third week of action with one of the biggest games of the year on tap, as the 2019 MaxPreps National Champion St. John Bosco Braves host the Servite Friars at Panish Family Stadium.

The Friars are 2-0 and ranked No. 2 in the Orange County top 25, behind only Mater Dei. The last two Friar victories have been against Damien, which ended 42-6 and Orange Lutheran, which ended 69-13.

The Friars will take on the current CIF Southern Section Division 1 and CIF State Open Division champions from last year in the Bosco Braves, who are currently 2-0 with wins of 42-21 over Sierra Canyon and 65-28 over Santa Margarita and are ranked No. 1 in the CalHiSports.com state rankings.

St. John Bosco showed why they are the reigning national champions, as they erupted for 37 points in the second half to defeat Santa Margarita 65-28 on Saturday in their Trinity League opener.

Santa Margarita (1-1, 0-1) and quarterback Colt Fulton showed their improvement by taking a 20-14 lead in the second quarter before the Braves (2-0, 1-0) started to roll. They scored 24 consecutive points to open a 38-20 lead and closed the game with a 27-0 run.

Fulton passed for 161 yards and three TDs in the first half to help the Eagles push the Braves. He tossed two scores to Murphy, including an 11-yarder that gave Santa Margarita a 20-14 lead with 8:37 left in the half. The 2-point conversion attempt failed and that was the last time the Eagles led.

Friday will be a totally different story as the Braves defense will have to handle the task of locking down Quarterback Noah Fifita of Servite. Fifita can do a lot at the quarterback position. Fifita is coming off a game in which he threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns on 17 of 19 passing and ran for two touchdowns during a 69-13 league victory over Orange Lutheran.

On Friday, he’ll be St. John Bosco’s problem when the ball is kickoff at 7:00 PM PT and coach Jason Negro knows what is team is up against.

“He’s probably one of the best quarterbacks, obviously, in the league without question. He’s extremely dynamic, he’s a playmaker, he’s got a lot of skill-set, very accurate passer with a strong arm”, Negro said in an interview with the Long Beach Press Telegram.

The quarterback duo of sophomore Pierce Clarkson and junior Katin Houser — the replacements for DJ Uiagalelei, who is now at Clemson — each had their moments connecting with wide receiver Jode McDuffie, who helped pace the offense with eight catches for 172 yards and three TDs against Santa Margarita.

Uiagalelei’s younger brother, Matayo, helped highlight the closing stretch by leaping from his defensive end spot for an interception that he returned about 15 yards for the score.

The Braves also rushed the ball well with the dual-threat Clarkson (101 yards) and the running back trio of Rayshon Luke (110), Jabari Bates (98) and Michael Hayes (38). St. John Bosco rushed for 208 yards and three scores in the first half behind its large offensive line and multiple options. Luke broke a tackle en route to his 82-yard TD run while Bates rushed for two touchdowns.

St. John Bosco led 28-20 at halftime on a late strike by Clarkson to McDuffie and timely stops on defense. Clarkson closed the half by rolling to his right and tossing a 32-yard TD pass to McDuffie with 23 seconds remaining. The Braves drove for the score after forcing Santa Margarita to give up the ball on downs at the St. John Bosco 41 with 58 seconds left.

The Braves’ defense also held on fourth down from its 35 with 4:58 left thanks to a sack by Ryan Tuaolo.

Panish Family Stadium will be seating limited fans tonight, as St. John Bosco and St. Joseph students now have the opportunity to win tickets for the upcoming remaining home games. Braves and Jesters both had the opportunity to win tickets for the upcoming game against Servite via raffle.

The instructions for the next home game are to check your student email and enter the raffle for an opportunity to secure a seat to see the action.

by: Ryan Tavera

Despite minor setbacks the Brave’s soccer team has set big goals for this year and are training their hardest to make them a reality.

In 2020, the Braves soccer team found much success becoming state and CIF finalists. The team hopes to repeat the success they had last year and go beyond what is expected from the team with the help of Head Coach David Sabet.  

“High expectations for this year, they really developed a lot in soccer and this year our goals are to finish top three in the trinity league,” said Coach Sabet.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions minor setbacks have plagued the team and the late notice of their upcoming season has hindered the team’s abilities. 

“Our expectations are always going to be high; it’s just the reality of where we are at. The thirteen years that I’ve been here we’ve always had a good four or five months to prepare. It’s been difficult, so in reality we can’t really prepare too much, we just have to maintain health,” said Coach Sabet. 

However, despite the setbacks and the fact that training has not been the easiest the soccer team has high expectations for the upcoming season. Every player is preparing themselves for the season both as a team and individually. Senior Andrew Olmos, feels the team has really developed and are ready for the new season. 

“Goal for the season was to work together as a team, we had trouble getting the team together, we were always just scared, this year we really matured and we just got to work together and push through those hard days and play for each other,” said Olmos.

The team still feels very confident about what they’re capable of. The team believes they have really tied everything together and are prepared for what lies ahead. Senior Mikel Villarreal, for instance, has noticed the team’s maturity and feels the team is ready to go. 

 “We’ve really matured last year and it was a big stepping stone for us and we are really putting the pieces together and I feel like we’re ready to roll,” said Villareal. 

The setbacks have only reinforced the team’s bond between each player not only as teammates but as friends. The team’s brotherhood is what will really take this team to the next level, every player pushing each other to be the best they can. Senior Joel Trejo that the sense of brotherhood among the team is their greatest strength.

“Our greatest strength is our brotherhood, whether it’s the last guy on the team we’re always just playing together and pushing ourselves to the best of our ability,” said Trejo. 

With expectations high and goals set to be the best, it is all up to the team to train as hard as they can and stay both physically and mentally strong for the upcoming season. Although the team is off to a rocky start Coach Sabet belvies the team still has what it takes to go above and beyond their expectations and repeat the success from last year. 

by Diego Santizo, Sports Editor

After a statement win over Sierra Canyon last Saturday, St. John Bosco looks to make it two in a row as they take on Santa Margarita this Saturday in Orange County.

It had been 455 days since defending MaxPreps National Champion St. John Bosco took the field in a high school football game that counted. It proved to not be a problem at all as the Braves cruised to a 42-21 win Saturday night over Sierra Canyon to begin the 2021 spring season. 

Bosco sophomore Pierce Clarkson and junior Katin Houser were the ones responsible for filling the void DJ Uiagalelei left under center and they both did a great job alternating possessions. Replacing DJ Uiagalelei at quarterback was never going to be an easy job, but both showed why FBS offers are starting to pile up. 

“We’re going to see some very good quarterback play,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said.

The second half would prove to be a stroll as St. John Bosco dominated the second half thanks to the help of running back Rayshon Luke as he rushed for a 67-yard score on the opening possession. Setting up the play was a connection between Clarkson and sophomore standout Matayo Uiagalelei came through clutch on a third-down conversion. DJ’s younger brother stood out on both sides of the ball and showed why he’s the fifth-rated recruit in California from the Class of 2023. 

Jason Negro’s squad dominated in the trenches as four-star junior Earnest Greene, USC signee Maximus Gibbs and senior Edward Riley created huge holes for the running game while also allowing Houser and Clarkson plenty of time in the pocket. St. John Bosco now heads into its five-game Trinity League schedule starting with Santa Margarita. 

The Eagles will be led under center by senior Colt Fulton who already has one year of trinity league experience as the Santa Margarita quarterback. Fulton threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers in the Eagles’ 54-16 win over Mayfair last week. The Eagles are currently under first-year coach Anthony Rouzier and are improved from last season when they finished 3-8 overall and 0-5 in the Trinity League. The game is set to take place at the Santa Ana Bowl with kickoff slated for 7:00 PM PT with Fox Sports West Prep Zone set to have coverage of the game.

The Braves will be playing at Mater Dei’s home turf as Servite and Orange Lutheran will battle in Bosco’s Panish Family Stadium in Bellflower. After the dust has settled in Santa Ana, one team will remain undefeated while one will be at a .500 record, with neither team being fond of the idea of heading back home with a loss already on their record so early in the short season.