Final: St. John Bosco 24 - Mater Dei 22

[CAMoleskinner]

In the rematch of their game seven weeks ago (played at The Rose Bowl tonight - the first high school game staged there since 1942), it was the Braves hanging on to take out the Monarchs in a nail-biter, 24-22, as they also avenged the 17-7 regular season game loss. That win also saw St. John Bosco put an end to Mater Dei's 29 game winning streak while the Bellflower school is certain to move to number one in the nation in next week's polls.

There were unofficially 16,000 in attendance at the big stadium in Pasadena.

The one loss Southern Division champion St. John's team will now play in California's big school Open Division Bowl (at Saddleback College) on December 10 against a 13-0 Serra High out of San Mateo, CA in NoCal. The Padres are located just south of San Fran -- on the Bay -- and are a Jesuit school (another of the tough private schools in that region who have followed in the footsteps of the great Concord De La Salle Spartans which stitched together the all time high school football win streak of 151 straight games in the late '90s and early 2000s).

 

[yesman3]

In the rematch of their game seven weeks ago (played at The Rose Bowl tonight - the first high school game staged there since 1942), it was the Braves hanging on to take out the Monarchs in a nail-biter, 24-22, as they also avenged the 17-7 regular season game loss. That win also saw St. John Bosco put an end to Mater Dei's 29 game winning streak while the Bellflower school is certain to move to number one in the nation in next week's polls.

There were unofficially 16,000 in attendance at the big stadium in Pasadena.

The one loss Southern Division champion St. John's team will now play in California's big school Open Division Bowl (at Saddleback College) on December 10 against a 13-0 Serra High out of San Mateo, CA in NoCal (the Padres are located just south of San Fran -- on the Bay -- and are a private Jesuit school),

CAM…
Like the old saying “hard beating a good team twice”… in this case a great team.
Been following these two the last several years, they really have no peer.. and what they’ve done to the OOS “powers” they’ve played is reinforcement of that. Especially Mater Dei, they’ve been doing it longer…and they’ll go on the road.

With Rollinson announced & set to retire, he purposely did not leave the cupboard bare. He wanted a soft landing for who they appoint next coach. And will they!!! They return essentially the starting team from what I’m aware, laden with D1 talent. Baring something catastrophic, MD should start & end #1 next year. This was supposed to be SJB’s year, more senior/upperclassman heavy, am I right with that assumption?

 

[CAMoleskinner]

Yesman -

From reading your post I can definitely see you've been following the comings and goings out here the last many years and especially those two titans - Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. The two of them have really put together some beast teams especially since 2016.

As to the game last night it was as predicted - a thriller! And with all the "keys" at full speed this time it was slightly tilted to Bosco which seemed the thought pre-game in some camps (although with Rollinson hanging it up after this season Mater Dei was getting plenty of emotional points in addition to the talent).

Here's a couple of write-ups on the game (including the LA Times which is the equivalent of The Inquirer - they do give high schools some ink in The Golden State and when you read through that article you'll see there are about ten clips from the game which each evidence the arms and speed of the skill players and the size and quickness of the boys in the trenches):

St. John Bosco reaches next gear in championship win against Mater Dei: 5 observations

PASADENA, Calif. — St. John Bosco entered Friday's Titanic Southern Section Division 1 game with Mater Dei as an underdog. A significant one. The biggest

news.scorebooklive.com

St. John Bosco beats Mater Dei to win Division 1 football title

St. John Bosco handed Mater Dei its first loss since the 2019 Southern Section Division 1 championship game to send Monarchs coach Bruce Rollinson into retirement.

www.latimes.com

Anyway, I'd say it was kind of a coin flip as to who was the absolute favorite going in as the talent on both teams is fairly equal and almost insane (the words "super all star teams" come to mind).

Regarding Rollinson, if he was planning an exit when the program would see the bank account with plenty of zeros he accomplished that goal. He's been there forever and built quite a run -- the Times mentions that his overall in 34 years at the Santa Ana school was an impressive 339-86-2 and that at age 73 "Rollie" noted "he was ready".

As to the game and its location, it was quite a spectacle with an apparent 16,000 or so in attendance. Perhaps a little less than expected considering the level of the two schools, the site and the fact it's in the middle of football crazed Southern California (with the weather providing a perfect clear, dry and high 60s environment too). You'll also note that this game would be the equivalent of the "Eastern or Western half Championship" in PA -- in other words, the state semi-final game in the playoffs.

PS When you think of these teams think of what it would be like if there were 3, 4 or 5 St. Joe's Preps in PA. Basically an elite group of squads that just seem to crush the opposition - except when they play each other (maybe like that Catholic League up in North Jersey).

Watching the Long Beach Poly types or Mission Viejo, Centennial, Los Alamito, etc. get knocked out each year does give you pause.