ST. JOHN BOSCO 31 - EAGLES 29
BELLFLOWER, CA., November 15, 2024 – The Braves came into the contest ranked No. 7 in the nation by MaxPreps.com. QB John Gazzaniga was 12/29 passing for 103 yards and 2 TDs and rushed 11 times for 82 yards and 1 TD. WR Trent Mosley caught 5 passes for 64 yards and 2 TDs. RB Jaion Smith rushed 16 times for 77 yards. Defensively DB Logan Hirou led the team with 12 tackles (7 solo, 5 asst.) and 1 interception. DB Jayden Crowser had 6 tackles (3 solo, 3 asst.) and 1 interception.
| St. John Bosco | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Santa Margarita | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 29 |
SJB – Clark 15 run (Wallace kick)
SM – Mosley 8 pass from J. Gazzaniga (Gass kick)
SM – Gass 38 FG
SM – J. Gazzaniga 22 run (Gass kick)
SJB – Wallace 48 FG
SM – T. Mosley 4 run (Gass kick failed)
SJB – Williams 22 pass from Malau'ulu (Wallace kick)
SJB – Allen 66 run (Wallace kick)
SJB – Allen 5 run (Wallace kick)
SM – T. Mosley 32 pass from J. Gazzaniga (Pass failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - J. Gazzaniga 11-82, Ja. Smith 16-77; SJB - Allen 25-146
Passing: SM - J. Gazzaniga 12-29-2-103; SJB - Malau'ulu 11-19-2-191
Receiving: SM - T. Mosley 5-64, Embree 3-18, Melton 2-17; SJB - Odom 4-83, Williams 3-75
Compiled by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
St. John Bosco football staggered but recovers to beat Santa Margarita in CIF-SS quarterfinals
BELLFLOWER, CA., November 15, 2024 – The St. John Bosco football team overcame a 13-point deficit to begin the second half and held on for a 31-29 win over Santa Margarita in the CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinals on Friday at St. John Bosco High.
After last week’s bye, Bosco (10-1) won its 13th consecutive playoff opener. The Braves will host Orange Lutheran in the semifinals.
Santa Margarita (5-7) played in its first CIF-SS quarterfinal since a 2016 loss to Bosco.
Bosco’s Koa Malau’ulu completed 10 of 16 passes for 180 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Maliq Allen ran for 137 yards and two scores.
Santa Margarita’s John Gazzaniga completed 11 of 28 passes for 79 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Trent Mosley ran in two touchdowns and caught a TD pass.
Santa Margarita held a 17-10 lead at halftime, and with the ball to start the second half the Eagles grinded out a scoring drive, as they had most of the night. Mosley took the end-around for a 9-yard score to cap a 12-play, 5:28 drive for a two-score lead. The extra point was missed, making it 23-10.
Bosco responded quickly, as Madden Williams threw a 24-yard reverse pass to Malau’ulu, and Malau’ulu threw a 22-yard touchdown strike to Williams, 23-17.
From there, Bosco’s defense held Santa Margarita in check with an interception by Joshua Holland and a three-and-out after the wind took a Bosco field goal attempt right.
With the ball back in the Braves’ hands, they immediately looked for the lead with a deep shot pass on first down that fell incomplete. On the next play, Allen broke a run right 66 yards to the end zone to make it 23-23.
CJ Wallace knocked in the extra point for the lead, 24-23.
The Braves forced another three-and-out, and Malau’ulu got Bosco deep on a 39-yard connection to Williams, who fought the defender for the ball. Allen ran for a 5-yard touchdown to put Bosco in control, 31-23, with over six minutes to go.
Santa Margarita responded with a 32-yard touchdown run by Mosley, but the 2-point pass would not go.
Bosco led 31-29 with four minutes to play and held on.
In their Trinity League meeting, neither team scored until the fourth quarter in a 13-0 Bosco win.
It only took three plays for the Braves to find the end zone Friday.
Malau’ulu completed passes of 49 yards and 11 yards, and then the freshman QB made a full spin to hand off to the third option, Carson Clark, on a 15-yard end-around left for the score, 7-0.
Santa Margarita responded with a grinding 15-play, six-minute drive, where Gazzaniga found Mosley in the left corner on an 8-yard touchdown to equalize, 7-7. Gazzaniga ran for a first down on a fourth-and-eight to extend the drive.
From there, the Eagles’ defense went to work.
Dash Fifita wrapped up his first sack on third down. Santa Margarita settled for a 36-yard field goal from Ryan Gass, 10-7.
On Bosco’s next drive, Jayden Crowder reeled in an interception for the Eagles at their 36.
The ensuing drive was another grind for Santa Margarita, but Gazzaniga came up huge again. The towering 6-foot-7, signal-caller faked the option on fourth-and-1 and pulled down the ball for a 21-yard sprint touchdown to extend the lead, 17-7.
The Eagles defense came up with another pick on the next drive by Logan Hirou, but then the Bosco defense turned the tables on the next two drives.
The Braves forced a three-and-out, and Isala Wily-Ava stepped into an Eagles pass for the interception. Wallace nailed a 48-yard field goal at the buzzer, and the Braves trailed by just one score at halftime, 17-10.
By Zach Cavanagh
Friday, November 15, 2024
The Orange County Register
