JESUS CANO
Prep2Prep Adult Contributor

December 15, 2019

NORWALK — St. John Bosco head coach Jason Negro’s goal at the beginning of 2019 was to get back to the CIF Open championship.

And as the decade comes to a close, the Braves made that goal a reality with a 49-28 victory over De La Salle.

“I'm ecstatic for our kids and our program,” Negro said. “They’ve worked so hard for this. We took advantage of this opportunity.”

Clemson commit DJ Ugialelei had a Power-5 caliber day, going 23 for 28 on the night, passing for 398 yards for four touchdowns.

“We known since day one were the best team in the country,” said Ugialelei. “This is the best decision I have made in my life. This is the place to be, you just have to be part of it to see.”

Bosco didn’t waste any time getting on the board, as a 32-yard keeper by Uiagalelei set up a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kris Hutson.

A controversially-called missed field goal by Blas Guerrero set back De La Salle, as the ball appeared to go inside the uprights but was called no good by the officials, keeping the Bosco lead at seven. The Braves then capitalized, with the next drive ending with a Rayshon Luke run to make it 14-0.

Spartans' quarterback Dorian Hale answered however with a 10-yard keeper to finish the next drive, to cut the deficit down 14-7. Starting a trend for the night, though, Uiagalelei connected on his second touchdown of the game to Jonathan Vaughns as a quick response in the final minute of the second quarter, to lead 21-7 heading into halftime.

De La Salle refused to back down and kept hitting. After a 59-yard reception to James Coby, the Spartans were down by eight when Shamar Garrett scored on a two-yard run to make it 21-13 in the third quarter.

This time, Uiagalelei wasted no time at all, as he showed off his precision passing by launching a 71-yard touchdown pass to Beaux Collins to put Bosco up 28-13 — and it was soon 35-13 when he threw his fourth touchdown pass to Logan Loya.

Garrett responded by scoring two consecutive touchdowns for De La Salle, escaping for an impressive 60-yard jaunt in the third and then a three-yard plunge in the fourth to get De La Salle within a touchdown at 35-28.

“Everytime we closed the gap, we just couldn’t win. We couldn’t punch it through that door,” said Alambaugh. “We had a couple plays we could have hit on a couple times. We gave up too many yards on defense.”

Uiagalelei then showcased his mobility, with yet another answer for Bosco, juking his way into the end zone to extend the Braves' lead to 42-28.

But the nail in the coffin happened when De La Salle was less than five yards away from scoring, in the final minutes, but a miscommunication on the handoff caused Hale to drop the ball and Matt Jordan to take it back to the house for 95 yards, accounting for the final points of the evening and eliminating any possibility of a DLS touchdown and onside kick to create late drama.