St. John Bosco’s Braves handily beat Mater Dei’s Monarchs on Saturday night with a 41-18 win. There was no lack of suspense for this high school football game, as it was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was cancelled due to lightning storms. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) requires that gameplay must not resume until 30 minutes after the most recent lightning strike. After intermittent lightning strikes Friday night, both St. John Bosco and Mater Dei’s head coach decided to postpone the game until the following day.

Both teams started the game on Saturday with all the energy of Friday night’s storm, however St. John Bosco jumped ahead early scoring on their first drive - Bosco’s Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei connected with Wide Receiver Jake Bailey for a touchdown pass. Bailey finished the night with six catches for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Uiagalelei completed 15 of 22 passes for 279 yards and five touchdowns. Running Back George Holani rushed for 123 yards in 12 carries and scored on a 75-yard run to start the fourth quarter.  

Mater Dei also also scored early - Quarterback Bryce Young connected with Wide Receiver Bru McCoy on a red-zone pass play that brought the score to 13-10 with St. John Bosco ahead. St. John Bosco had three long drives of 80 yards during the first half giving them 27-10 halftime lead. Mater Dei really struggled to get their running attack going, while Young was getting tons of pocket pressure from St. John Bosco’s swarming defensive line.  Young finished the game with 23 of 41 for 303 yards and two touchdowns.

St. John Bosco applied a versatile offensive attack with Uiagalelei using his legs for 60 yards rushing, keeping the Monarchs defense off-balance. Halani scored on a 27 yard screen pass and Wide Receiver Kristopher Hutson caught a 24-yard touchdown pass.

A third quarter fumble recovery by the Mater Dei Monarchs in the third quarter seemed to give them a spark of second half momentum, but St. John Bosco’s defense was able to withstand the Monarchs’ offensive attack and get the ball right back with no damage.  

The Monarchs were unable to convert four times on fourth down in their own territory, which spoke for how well the Braves defensive line performed. The Monarchs scored late when Young connected with Senior Tight End Mike Martinez on a touchdown pass, but it was too little, too late.

The Braves were lifted by an extremely energetic student fan section, and rode their first half success into a 41-18 win over the Monarchs. This win puts St. John Bosco in very good position to get the No. 1 seed for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.