Bosco ready for No. 1 Mater Dei
Braves are confident going into high-profile SoCal showdown
BELLFLOWER ❯❯ It has been all business at St. John Bosco's Panish Family Stadium this week, as the Braves have been quietly preparing to host their biggest game yet this football season, the annual Trinity League showdown with Mater Dei tonight at 7 p.m.
However, that doesn't mean Bosco is not confidently excited about Southern California's most highly anticipated game of the regular season.
“I don't think there's a team in the country who can beat us other than us,” Braves senior quarterback Caleb Sanchez said. “We have to focus on us and execute on all sides, whether it's special teams, offense and defense. So it's on us this game.”
This year's Trinity League iteration has Mater Dei ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section, California and the nation. Bosco is ranked No. 2 in the CIF-SS and California. However, the Braves have dropped to No. 7 nationally in CalPreps' ratings after a 30-23 upset loss at Kahuku on Sept. 16.
“This is what we look forward to at Bosco,” Sanchez said. “Coming here and playing Mater Dei, obviously a great program with a great football team. We're looking forward to having a really competitive game against them and obviously the atmosphere is going to be incredible.”
On offense, the Braves are led by the 6-foot-4 Sanchez, who has thrown for 1,856 yards, 17 touchdowns with four interceptions in seven games this season. This is his first year as the team's starter.
Bosco's leading receiver is 5-foot-7 senior Stacy Dobbins, who has a team-high 44 receptions for 517 yards and four touchdowns. He is a transfer from Chapparal of Temecula, where he hauled in 100 receptions for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.
“It's another opportunity to make plays,” Dobbins said.
“All I have to do is get (Dobbins) the ball and he'll make plays, whether it's downfield or if I'm checking it down to him,” Sanchez said. “All I have to do is give it to him and he'll work his magic with it.”
Sanchez played the second half of Bosco's 17-7 loss to Mater Dei on Oct. 7, 2022 and one offensive series in Bosco's 24-22 win against Mater Dei at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 25, 2022.
“I just have to focus on getting the ball out to the right guys at the right times,” Sanchez said when asked about this year's game.
“This is the exciting part about coaching and getting to compete in a game like this, is you get to see the guys rise to the occasion and hopefully play at a high level,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. “I have a lot of confidence in my guys that they're going to be able to do that.”
Two of the many key players on Bosco's defense are senior linebackers Jordan Lockhart (Texas A&M commit) and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Notre Dame commit).
“We've been in this situation for three years now, so we know what to expect but it's just going to come down to doing what we're supposed to do,” Lockhart said. “Do your job, 10 guys are counting on you to do what you're supposed to do and just have fun. Control effort. Mater Dei is a great team so we're just ready to get after it.”
Viliamu-Asa, who leads the team with 52 tackles and six tackles for loss, has a similar outlook heading into the big game.
“Obviously, they have a great team with great players and great coaching, so when it comes down to wire, it's going to take effort and playing for your brother and straining to make a play,” Viliamu-Asa said.
“I think they've done a really good job of assuming the leadership role,” Negro said when asked about Lockhart and Viliamu-Asa, who are among the top returnees from last season's national championship team.
“In terms of last year, the best part about it is they put it behind us,” Negro continued. “The biggest thing that we have to understand is we're not last year. This is not last year's team.
“We graduated 33 seniors, 20 of which went on to play college football, so it's certainly a different football team for us and those guys have assumed the responsibility to elevate their team's performance on their side of the football and also be a good standout citizen and lead by example for the other side of the football as well and help us off the field.”
Bosco is the defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 and CIF State Open Division champion. That's a point of pride for Negro's team and being able to repeat those feats is still a motivating factor heading into Friday's game.
“The greatest thing about this football game is it's not really going to determine anything yet,” Negro said. “Obviously, it will give the winner the driver's seat in terms of the (Trinity) league championship but we still have an opportunity regardless of the outcome to play for a CIF championship, a state championship, and who knows down the road after that.
“At the moment, we're going to play for this week, we're trying to win a Trinity League title. We're trying to go 1-0 this week against a very talented Mater Dei team and we're not really going to worry about the future. We're going to live in the now and we're going to focus on that. We know that this is not going to define our season by any means and our kids are approaching it that way as it is. Last year we lost the league title game but we won the one that was most important and that was in the CIF championship game at the Rose Bowl.”
Dobbins simply wants Bosco to play a complete game.
“The key is us playing all four quarters,” Dobbins explained. “Putting the crowd to the side, and just worry about us.”