Bellflower, CA
The new number 1 team in the nation, St. John Bosco, showed everyone across the country why the rankings are never wrong. The Braves took on the Hawaii state champions, St. Louis crusaders, in a battle of top dawgs in their respective states.
both teams would have dangerous weapons on the offensive side of the ball. for the braves, a young sophmore qb, Koa Malau'ulu, has been going off throwing for over 11 touchdown passes within the first 4 games. their reciceving core is one of the best in the nation with players like; Daniel odom, madden williams, and DJ Tubbs. the trio WR's have been a nightmare problem for many defenses as they would always find themselves in the end zone. as for the crusaders, they've been led by senior qb, nainoa lopes, who has been having himself a strong start to the season. their offensive power players, Senior WR, Jordan nunuha, and your 2025 cover athlete of the month of august, senior wr, kingstion siliado. Their running back core is no shy of greatness, as the crusaders look to use their star running back, tenari fuumatu ma'afala.
There's no question that the braves defense is the reason why they are number one in the country. braves Junior s, isala wily-ava, Senior s, josh holland, and Jailen hill have been picking off the offense and giving the braves the best field posistions to score. as for the crusaders, they've been dominating the state thru their key players on defense. Junior lb, tj aulualu, senior lb, Mahana alameda, and Dl Aloali'i Malaki have been putting pressure on the opposing quarterbacks and hope to bring the same pressure in california.
This would be the Braves' last pre-season game before they shift their focus to CIF Trinity League play. A lot was at stake for this game on both sides. St. John Bosco was looking to show the country that the rankings weren't wrong and that they were the number one team in the nation. St. Louis, on the other hand, was ready to take down Goliath in a matchup that could change the whole perspective of the season and shock the world.
It would be a defensive clinic that the Braves would put on display. Joshua Holland, 2026 USC commit, would pick off the first pass from St. Louis and bring it into redzone territory, where the Braves would score the first points, 2 minutes into the game. St. John Bosco would keep up this momentum and would get a strip sack against the Crusaders right before the halftime break to increase their lead by 21.
Don't write off the Crusaders. Their grit and dynasty would help them strike gold 3 times and score on the nation's best team. It would be big plays by sophomore rb, Tenari Fuumatu Ma'afala, and the strong connection between QB Nainoa Lopes and WR Jordan Nunuha that got the Crusaders going.
With a matchup like this, you can never write it off as a loss, but a lesson as the season progresses. St. John Bosco now shifts their focus to the Trinity League and their goals of winning it all and being the National Champions at the end of the year for the 4th time in program history. As for the defending open state champs, they look to use this game to their advantage as they now start ilh play back home.
Final Score: St. John Bosco 49 - St. Louis 20
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Pictures taken by: Alan Velasco - @oscalev_
