St. John Bosco Braves clinched a blowout 45-0 victory over Serra Padres to be the CIF Open Division State Champions on Saturday night. A staggering five touchdowns in the first half blew Serra out of the equation. They won their first title since 2019. According to Sports Illustrated rankings, they will finish as the No. 1 team in the nation.
CIF State Championship Result: St John Bosco 45-0 Serra
Before you take a look at the result, make sure not to miss any more high school football action; hence, here’s High School Football Coverage info.
St. John Bosco Braves clinched a thumping 45-0 victory over Serra in the CIF Open Division state championship final.
The Braves junior Cameron Jones set the tone with a 2-yard touchdown after an acrobatic one-handed catch. Jones started the second quarter with another 2-yard touchdown to take a huge 14-0 lead.
It was all despair for the Serra Padres. St. John Bosco senior Aaron Williams intercepted Serra quarterback Maealiuaki Smith and returned 31 yards for a touchdown.
St. John Bosco went 35-0 up by the first half after touchdowns from Khalil Warren and Pierce Clarkson.
The Braves started the third quarter with a 26-yard Marcus Lee field goal to make it 38-0. Warren scored a 57-yard touchdown to finish things off at 45-0.
It’s been a storybook season for the St. John Bosco Braves. They started the season as the no. 1 team and finished it as the no. 1 in the state, if not in the nation.
St. John Bosco Head Coach Jason Negro
“We started the season at No. 1, and to be able to finish it off at No. 1, it’s pretty gratifying knowing all of the work that we put into it,” said St. John Bosco head coach Jason Negro.
The Braves have had only one slip-up all year. They lost to Mater Dei by 17-7 in October this season. However, the St. John Bosco boys had the last laugh. They took down the same team by 24-22 in November to take the Southern Section Division 1 Championship. It couldn’t get any better for the Braves boys to beat Mater Dei and get through to the CIF Open Division State championship final with a 13-1 record.
Serra Head Coach Patrick Walsh
“I was talking to a college coach this week, and I equated it to if the Baltimore Ravens decided to play college football, that’s what this feels like,” said Serra head coach Patrick Walsh. “It’s just on the high school level. The Arizona Wildcats have five or six pros, and the Ravens have 53. We have five, six, or seven college guys. [St. John Bosco] has 50. It’s tough.”
The Serra Padres boys’ unbeaten record of 13-0 came crashing down in the final. Despite losing star junior running back Lucas Schumaker in the very first game of the season, Serra scored an impressive 13-0 record.
Serra Padres ranked no. 3 in the state. They won by big margins barring only three close games. They won all three postseason games by at least 27 points.
However, they fell short in the final against St. John Bosco and ended with a 13-1 record.
