Sports

Football: St. John Bosco 20, De La Salle 14

State Bowl Championship: A couple of offensive powers score two TDs apiece, but Bosco ends De La Salle's 40-game winning streak.

By Martin Henderson

They were, without doubt, two of the best teams in the nation. And unquestionably, they put on a dramatic show worthy of the matchup.

Josh Rosen threw two touchdown passes to Jaleel Wadood, and Bellflower St. John Bosco made a couple of big plays on defense when it had to as it scored a 20-14 victory Saturday over De La Salle.

The win gave Bosco the Open Bowl Championship and, as an undefeated state champion, a claim to the mythical national title. It snapped De La Salle’s 40-game winning streak, which had been the longest in the state.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

MaxPreps had Bosco (16-0) ranked No. 3 in the nation and De La Salle (14-2) No. 4 by its staff of writers; the computer-based Freeman Rating ranked Bosco No. 1 and De La Salle No. 6. 

No way around it, this was a game of titans.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Although Bosco outplayed De La Salle at the StubHub Center in Carson, De La Salle’s fourth quarter positioned it to steal a fifth consecutive Open Division State Bowl Championship as it held the high-powered Braves—averaging 49 points per game—to only three points in the second half.

DLS had driven from the Bosco 44 to the 30 and only needed a touchdown and extra point to win, but Gavin Windes’ interception with 2 minutes 15 seconds left ended the Spartans’ reign at the top of California football.

De La Salle and Bosco each were 1-2 in various state rankings. Even though Bosco was favored by some, over the past three seasons DLS outscored nationally ranked opponents in the Bowl Championship, 131-36

"I don't think we were fazed by this game," said fourth-year Bosco coach Jason Negro, alluding to his team's difficult schedule. "I knew we were going to come prepared for this game. The Trinity League and Pac-5 Division is no joke."

Although the games weren't always close, Bosco had to battle plenty over the course of the season. And that's what it did in the second half, and the fourth quarter, as momentum shifted to De La Salle and its aura.

On the interception that dimmed the aura just a bit, De La Salle quarterback Chris Williams—who passed 49 yards to Marquis Morris on the previous drive to pull to 20-14—rolled to his right. The left-hander then passed back to his left, but defensive lineman Windes leaped up for the interception.

“That was our season,” said Negro, who took over the Bosco program four seasons ago. “That play was certainly the play of the year.”

Rosen, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 200 yards and scoring passes of 60 and 7 yards, peeled off a 37-yard gain on third-and-4 to ice the game with 1:18 remaining.

“Those guys are really, really good,” said first-year De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh, “but we made too many mistakes. We played really hard, we just didn’t play well. You can’t make a mistake against a team like that.”

He said Bosco was on the short list of De La Salle’s greatest opponents, ranking it alongside the 2001 team from Long Beach Poly that had five future NFL players on it.

Rosen and Wadood, who had five receptions for 113 yards, weren’t he only weapons  Bosco aimed at the Spartans defense. Sophomore Sean McGrew rushed 24 times for 143 of Bosco’s 199 rushing.

For De La Salle, John Velasco carried 21 times for 93 yards, and Williams completed six of 14 passes for 97 yards and two interceptions.

Windes’ interception notwithstanding, the most influential play of the game came with 29 seconds left in the half. McGrew had carried on six of the previous seven plays, then Rosen faked another handoff and found Wadood all alone in the end zone for a 7-yard score. It put Bosco up, 17-7.

“That was huge,” Alumbaugh winced.

“That was something we designed this week,” Negro said.  “Kind of a passing league deal.”

Bosco scored only once more. Reid Budrovich kicked a 25-yard field goal with 8:48 remaining as the De La Salle defense did a great job to keep the Braves out of the end zone; Bosco took possession on its own 49.  Budrovich also kicked a 35-yard field goal on Bosco’s first possession.

Bosco followed that with Chandler Leniu’s interception at the Bosco 47. Two plays later, Rosen hit Wadood deep for the 60-yarder and a 10-0 lead.

De La Salle responded with an 80-yard drive, all on the ground, as John Velasco scored from 10 to pull to 10-7 with 4:21 left in the half.

De La Salle wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter. Another 80-yard drive, the last 49 through the air from Williams to Miller, made it 20-14 with 6:27 remaining. The Spartans had momentum, and the defense force a three-and-out at the 20. 

De La Salle took possession with 4:30 remaining and 44 yards separating them another championship. But on fourth-and-7, Windes’ interception saved the game the season and the championship for Bosco.

Open Bowl Championship

St. John Bosco 20, De La Salle 14

De La Salle                        0-7-0-7—14

St. John Bosco                        3-14-0-3—20

FIRST QUARTER

SJB—Reid Budrovich FG 35, 5:33, 3-0

SECOND QUARTER

SJB—Jaleel Wadood 60 pass from Josh Rosen (Budrovich kick), 9:01, 10-0

DLS—John Velasco 10 run (Tyler Duncan kick), 4:21, 10-7

SJB—Wadood 7 pass from Rosen (Budrovich kick), 0:29, 17-7

FOURTH QUARTER

SJB—Budrovich FG 25, 8:48, 20-7

DLS—Marquis Morris 49 pass from Chris Williams (Duncan kick), 6:27, 20-14


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here