ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A little more than a month ago, St. John Bosco came away with an empty feeling after blowing a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter to Mater Dei.
“We weren’t able to finish it,” reflected had coach Jason Negro.
On Saturday night, though, they finished with an exclamation mark, atoning for the regular season defeat with a firm 42-28 win over Mater Dei at Angel Stadium to claim the Southern Section Division I title.
“The biggest thing is we got to redeem ourselves after the first time we played them,” Negro said.
Like in the October matchup, the Braves held a second half lead. And this time, they kept stomping on the gas pedal, ruining No. 1 seed Mater Dei’s perfect season and raising their status as a rising national powerhouse. Both teams entered the game ranked in the top five nationally.
On the opening drive of the second half, running back Demetrius Flowers scampered for a 66-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-14.
Then, what could have been a momentum swing in favor of Mater Dei turned into a backbreaker. Quarterback J.T Daniels, a sophomore, appeared flustered all night by the Braves’ defense and threw his first interception at the wrong time. The Monarchs had just regained possession after a pick of their own and had a chance to cut it to a seven-point game. But Daniels made an ill-advised throw on the next play that was telegraphed to Tyrel Thomas, who took it back for a St. John Bosco score.
With a 35-14 lead, the Braves were content to run the ball and wind down the clock, as they did all game. St. John Bosco outgained Mater Dei 376-75 on the ground, holding the ball for more than 32 minutes compared to just under 16 minutes for the Monarchs.
And it was quarterback Re-al Mitchell who showed off his legs, rushing for 111 yards on 20 carries. Mitchell’s 12-yard rushing touchdown with under five minutes left in the game put the icing on the cake and punched St. John Bosco’s ticket to the state title.
“It was really our offensive line,” Mitchell said. “They blocked their tails off. We got to the hole fast and we made (what) we could have.”
Mitchell received plenty of help from his running backs. Flowers ran for 120 yards on 20 carries. Terrance Beasley recorded 145 yards on 22 touches. But it was the offensive line that opened up the holes, led by arguably the top offensive guard in high school football, Wyatt Davis.
“If the offensive line executed what we needed to do, it would be a good outcome.” Davis said. “We made the right blocks, made the right reads. And we executed the game plan.”
St. John Bosco opened up a two-touchdown lead late in the second half as the Braves ate up clock and pounded the run. Terrance Beasley finished off 13-play, 72-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown catch-and-run down the left sideline after breaking a tackle.
Following a Mater Dei punt, St. John Bosco again emphasized the running attack, this time utilizing its dual-threat quarterback. Mitchell carried the ball five times on the drive, finishing it off with a 13-yard keeper for a touchdown, fooling the defense by faking a handoff.
The 21-7 lead did not last long, as Daniels responded quickly for Mater Dei. On the ensuing drive, he delivered a perfect front-shoulder, 49-yard throw to Amon-ra St. Brown for a score.
It was one of the rare shining moments for Daniels and the Mater Dei offense, which had only been held to under 40 points in a game once this season (also against St. John Bosco in that regular season matchup).
“We had to throw some different looks at him,” Negro said on the gameplan to stop Daniels. “He’s a young guy. This is a big stage for him. We wanted to make things uncomfortable and I think we did that from a secondary standpoint.”
Daniels finished 12-of-35 for 289 yards and three touchdowns.
The late touchdown sent the teams into the locker room in a close affair with St. John Bosco ahead 21-14. As expected, Mater Dei controlled the air with 186 passing yards, but St. John Bosco had 179 yards on the ground to even out the total yards.
The game started slowly, with both teams managing just two possessions each in the first quarter. The respective opening drives were nearly identical, as both teams chewed up clock and methodically marched their way to short, rushing touchdowns.
Glenn Harper helped Mater Dei draw first blood while Flowers punched it in on third-and-goal to even the score on the ensuing drive for St. John Bosco, which converted all four of its third-down attempts in the first quarter.
Staring out at the vast baseball field after the game, Flowers could only muster a few words when asked how sweet this win felt.
“It’s awesome. I’m speechless,” he said.
Mitchell, though, said he wasn’t surprised by the result.
“I know when we play our game, no one else can play with us,” he said.
In two weeks, St. John Bosco will most likely play for the state title against De La Salle, the powerhouse program in Northern California. And Negro is ready for it.
“We wouldn’t want anything else than to finish your season up playing De La Salle,” he said.
