Freshman Braylon Ivory of Bishop Gorman is about to get a strip-sack in the end zone of St. John Bosco junior QB Koa Malau’ulu during the national No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown game on Friday in Las Vegas. Photo: Willie Eashman.
Preseason state No. 1 St. John Bosco opens with road loss in Las Vegas on Friday in matchup of top two teams in most national rankings. Most of the top-ranked teams in Southern California are starting their seasons this week, but for Northern California they will all be starting next week. Two of the San Diego Section’s top three preseason teams also lost in openers with one of them being the best win for an L.A. City Section team in a few years.
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(Rankings based on preseason State Top 50)
(Through reported results of Friday, Aug. 21)
(First GOLD CLUB new state rankings will be done after games of Saturday, Aug. 29)
1. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 0-1
LOST to Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 38-28. It was 21-0 at halftime, but the Braves got rolling in the second half and tied the score at 28-28 early in the fourth quarter on a punt return TD by D.J. Tubbs. Former Bosco RB Corey Hinton Jr. then struck for Gorman on a 59-yard TD reception with 6:49 left. On the Braves’ ensuing possession, head coach Jason Negro decided to go for it on fourth down and five from around midfield, but the play was stopped short. A 15-yard facemask penalty then helped the Gaels add a 49-yard field goal with just over two minutes left. The second half comeback in our book would be enough to keep Bosco No. 1 in the state, but going back to last season it is a current three-game losing streak.
2. Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 1-0
Defeated Jones (Orlando, Fla.) 27-0. It was reported earlier in the day that head coach Carson Palmer named his son, Fletch, to be the starting QB. The younger Palmer had two TD passes, one of which was to freshman Kiyan Callis.
USC committed LB Josiah Poyer puts some pressure on the Bishop Gorman QB during Friday’s showdown matchup. Photo: Willie Eashman / Cal-Hi Sports.
3. Centennial (Corona) 1-0
Defeated Servite (Anaheim) 42-21 on Thursday. Transfer QB Jaden Jefferson debuted for the Huskies with 296 yards passing and two TDs and ran for a pair of TDs. His former Cathedral of L.A. teammate and current Centennial teammate, USC-bound WR Quentin Hale, had both TD catches.
4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 1-0
Defeated American Fork (Utah) 31-11. Not sure what to make of this one as American Fork was 7-5 last season, but did win in a game it already played last week. Sophomore Asir Nembhard ran for two TDs and big-time DB Danny Lang has a pair of interceptions to lead the Monarchs.
5. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 1-0
Defeated JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 42-21. Two years ago, the Trailblazers lost 35-7 in the second game at JSerra. It was 35-7 this time just after halftime when Cal-bound Myles Baker returned the second half kickoff for a 93-yard TD.
6. Mission Viejo 1-0
Defeated Chaparral (Temecula) 55-17. While Chaparral (preseason No. 13) was hindered without QB Dane Weber (injured hand), it was still a strong opening win for Mission. Junior DB Jordan Hicks had a pick six and he scored on a return after a blocked kick.
7. Folsom 0-0
Did not play. First game for Bulldogs will be next Friday at home vs state No. 30 Cardinal Newman. They will host No. 6 Mission Viejo the following week in a matchup we are scheduled to attend.
8. Lutheran (Orange) 0-1
LOST to Central (Miami, Fla.) 23-22. Reports are that the Lancers fell in the final seconds to one of the top 10 teams in Florida in a home game that also was the first game under new head coach Ray Fenton.
9. De La Salle (Concord) 0-0
Did not play. First game for Spartans will be next Friday on the road at Serra of San Mateo. With the first game involving their teams playing each other, we wonder how much head coach close friends Justin Alumbaugh (DLS) and Patrick Walsh (Serra) spoke to each other during the summer.
10. Central (Fresno) 0-0
Did not play. There were game reports of the Bengals having a matchup in Nevada last week Pinecrest Academy of Henderson (which wasn’t on their MaxPreps schedule) but the game was cancelled after lightning and rain caused it to be halted in the first half with Pinecrest ahead 14-7. It’s going to go into our books and the CIF books as a no contest.
11. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 0-0
Did not play. First game for the Dons will be next Friday at home vs Lutheran of Orange, which is a rematch of a memorable matchup in the CIF SoCal D1-AA regional final from 2021 that Cathedral Catholic won, 71-62.
12. Servite (Anaheim) 0-1
LOST to Centennial (Corona) 42-21 on Thursday. All in all, considering the Huskies may be one of the premier teams in the state, that’s not that bad of a loss.
13. Chaparral (Temecula) 0-1
LOST to Mission Viejo 55-17. We haven’t seen any reports yet of how severe the injury is to QB Dane Weber’s hand. He didn’t play vs the Diablos, who have been in that mix of the top six teams from the top division of the CIF Southern Section for that last several years.
14. Serra (San Mateo) 0-0
Did not play. If the Padres were not opening up against De La Salle next Friday at home and if they didn’t have so many returning starters, they’d probably not have started out this high in our preseason rankings.
15. Pacifica (Oxnard) 1-0
Defeated Del Sol (Oxnard) 52-6. New school only in its second season of varsity football was no match for Tritons. They are playing Lincoln of San Diego and Sierra Canyon in non-league games later on.
Koa Malau’ulu finally got the Bosco offense rolling in the second half but late plays went the other direction in team’s loss on Friday in Las Vegas. Photo: Willie Eashman / Cal-Hi Sports.
16. Pittsburg 0-0
Did not play. The first game of the season for head coach Charlie Ramirez’s squad will be next Friday at home vs. Monterey Trail of Elk Grove. The Pirates will have St. John Bosco after that and Mission Viejo a couple of weeks after that.
17. Crean Lutheran (Irvine) 1-0
Defeated Loyola (Los Angeles) 31-6. Strong first game for squad looking to emerge out of that group of teams in the CIFSS not in the Trinity League (other than JSerra) and also not Centennial or Mission Viejo.
18. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 0-0
Did not play. Head coach Casey Taylor is taking the squad on a road trip to Texas to open the season next Friday. It will be Argyle High of Argyle, which is in the northern part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
19. Grant (Sacramento) 0-0
Did not play. The Pacers reportedly won in a scrimmage on Friday, 34-7, over Del Oro of Loomis. They have a very tough opener on Friday next week at state No. 10 Central East (Fresno).
20. Granite Hills (El Cajon) 0-1
LOST to Oceanside 43-29. We weren’t the only ones who had the Eagles second to start the season in the San Diego Section after Cathedral Catholic. The San Diego Union-Tribune media poll also had it that way. The Pirates, however, were one of the state’s big winners of the night. Neke Letuli led Oside with 153 yards rushing and three TDs.
21. Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 0-0
Did not play. First game for the Crusaders will be next Friday, Aug. 28 at West High of Salt Lake City, Utah. West will have already played twice and is 2-0 after wins vs Arbor View of Las Vegas and East of Salt Lake City.
22. Tustin 0-1
LOST on Friday to San Clemente 17-0. We saw reports of injuries to both DL Jon Ioane and QB Ayden Edwards.
23. San Clemente 2-0
Defeated Tustin 17-0. The home crowd was rocking after Jaxson Rex scored on a long interception return that wrecked perhaps the best chance of the Tillers getting a score. The Tritons opened the season the previous week with a 23-8 win over Kapa’a (Hawaii). Look for big move up for them in the next rankings, although those won’t be done until after games of Aug. 28-29.
24. Lincoln (San Diego) 0-1
LOST to Carson 35-31. Another top-ranked preseason San Diego Section team to go down on Friday night was the Hornets. They lost to last year’s CIF L.A. City Section Open Division champions. This is one of the biggest wins for an L.A. City team in a big non-league game in many years.
25. Rancho Cucamonga 1-0
Defeated Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 28-14. The Cougars came from a 14-0 deficit to beat an opponent that was in the CIFSS D2 championship game last season.
26. JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 0-1
LOST to Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 42-21. We’ll find out more about how the Lions may do once they don’t have to play one of the top six teams in the state.
27. Mission Hills (San Marcos) 1-0
Defeated El Camino (Oceanside) 47-3. It looks like the Grizzlies may move up to No. 2 in San Diego after this win. Minnesota-committed QB Furian Inferrera (the transfer from Mater Dei of Santa Ana) led the way with three TD passes and two TD runs.
28. Norco 1-0
Defeated Roosevelt (Eastvale) 55-14. QB Julian Medina led the Cougars with five TD passes.
29. Manteca 0-0
Did not play. First game for the Buffaloes will be next Friday at St. Francis of Mountain View (which has a lot of top returning players from last year’s 5-6 team).
30. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 0-0
Did not play. First game for Cardinals and new head coach Kenny McMillan will be a tough one: at Folsom on Friday.
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