COSTA MESA — Senior quarterback Caleb Sanchez completed 23 of 31 passes for 396 yards, six touchdowns and one interception as St. John Bosco beat Orange Lutheran 44-22 in a Trinity League football game at Orange Coast College Friday night.
The Braves (9-1, 5-0) got off to a fast start with three early touchdown passes by Sanchez — 51 yards to Chauncey Sylvester Jr., 5 yards to Cameron Jones and 31 yards to Daniel Odom.
“It felt really good,” Sanchez said. “OLu was stuffing the box on us with the run so we had to pass and a lot of things were open.
“I just had to get the ball to my playmakers and they made plays for me.”
However, that did not mean the Braves would not be in for a fight against Orange Lutheran (5-5, 2-3) in their quest to win the program’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018.
“It’s super gratifying,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. “We play in the toughest league in America and to be able to go 5-0 in this league is not easy to do.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the kids for grinding it out through this 10-week season. It hasn’t been easy. We’ve been all over the country and having to play five weeks in a row against that type of competition and level of coaching is not easy to do. We did a really good job and I could not be happier to go through that undefeated.”
St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro is fired up about his team’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018. Coach Negro is also fired up about his opinion that the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs should be a 16 team bracket. @boscofootball’s coach also broke… pic.twitter.com/dcIHCCl7ZL
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023
In the five-year span between Trinity League titles, Bosco won two national championships in 2019 and 2022. Negro said that is a testament to how hard the level of play is against Mater Dei, JSerra, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita, and Servite has been in recent years.
“When you have talent up and down, all six teams are very talented and very well coached so for us, we just have to do the best job that we can to prepare each and every week and treat them like isolated events,” Negro explained. “That’s what our kids were able to do this year and I can’t give them enough credit.”
Meanwhile, Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman wanted to see his team’s best effort against Bosco.
“Fight, fiery, intensity,” Sherman said pregame. “We didn’t start very well last week against Mater Dei. We got down early. We anticipate starting better tonight.”
Sherman’s team gave up a safety on their first offensive play but he began to see the passion he was looking for in the second quarter.
Orange Lutheran football head coach Rod Sherman wants to see his team ‘fight’ against St. John Bosco in Week 10 before the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. @ocvarsity @OLuFootball pic.twitter.com/w2gTUSHRaK
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023
The Lancers found themselves down 23-0 late in the first half. However, they scored 15 unanswered points before halftime on two touchdown passes by junior quarterback TJ Lateef, who finished with 186 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Lateef threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Chris Flores Jr. with 1:16 to go.
Sophomore cornerback Marcellous Ryan intercepted Sanchez’s pass with 37 seconds to go. Lateef took advantage of Bosco’s mistake and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Nico Bland with 15 seconds to go before halftime. Flores successfully converted a 2-point conversion.
Bosco led 23-15 at halftime.
“That’s what you get out of teams that are in this league, these guys are talented football players,” Negro continued. “They’re really well coached. There’s a lot of pride and tradition in all of these programs and they’re not going to back down.
“They’re not going to quit. They’re going to continue to fight hard, continue to do the things that they need to do to improve their football team, and get ready to compete the entire year.”
Down eight points, Orange Lutheran received the ball first in the second half but their drive stalled out and they punted with 8:44 left in the third.
The Braves responded with an 80-yard scoring drive, which was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Sylvester, which extended Bosco’s lead to 30-15 with 7:05 left in the third. Sylvester finished with two receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns. He had 12 yards rushing on four carries.
“Any way I can make the team better,” Sylvester said about his all-around performance. “So I’ll go out and catch the ball, run the ball but my boy Caleb gave me the ball over the top, so I’m going to make it happen.”
Orange Lutheran responded with a 4-yard touchdown run by junior running back Steve Chavez, cutting Bosco’s lead to 30-22 with 3:42 left in the third.
Sanchez added a 45-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Owen Tomich and a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Stacy Dobbins.
The Braves led 44-22 with 11:52 left in the fourth.
“I thought (Sanchez) played extremely well,” Negro said. “He understands the game plan. He understands what we’re trying to do.
“We have a lot of weapons around him and (Friday night) we didn’t run the ball real well because OLu is so good up front but for us, we have to lean on Caleb, that four-year guy that’s waited his time. I could not be happier for a young man who has really done a phenomenal job putting himself in a position to be the starter quarterback of St. John Bosco, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, top 3 in the country. That kid is a stud. I’m just so blessed that we have him as a part of our program.”
Meanwhile, Sanchez and Sylvester, both four-year student-athletes at Bosco, are excited to help lead their team into the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“Obviously, we’re probably the No. 1 seed now so that feels good but that doesn’t really matter because the playoffs coach talked about it, it’s a timer,” Sanchez continued. “Every week, every Friday, you can restart the timer or it’s over for your team so we have to just focus on each opponent one week at a time, and if we do that and focus on ourselves and eliminating mistakes then we’ll be good.”
“I know it could all be over in one game so I just put it all on the line every game,” Sylvester added. “We’re going to be prepared.”
2024 RB Chauncey Sylvester Jr. and 2024 QB Caleb Sanchez on St. John Bosco’s 44-24 win against Orange Lutheran to secure @boscofootball’s first outright Trinity League title since 2018. @BoogieSylvester @calebbsanchez are four-year student-athletes for @sjbathletics. pic.twitter.com/WBdBcyg1lO
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023
Negro said he did not want to leave any doubt that Bosco should be the No. 1 seed in the CIF-SS D1 playoffs and he does not want a first-round bye.
“No, do not want a bye,” Negro said pregame. “This bracket should be 16 teams. I’ve voiced that.
“My kids earned and deserve every round of the playoffs just like everybody else in the other 13 divisions. To isolate us and make us only play 8, 10 or 12 teams and have a bye and then we have a bye before the regional if you’re lucky enough to get to the state game, it’s just not fair. You talk about competitive equity, you talk about equity as a whole, well how about having equitable playoff divisions and that’s what I’m looking for and I’m going to continue to call for it as long as I’m coaching in this until we somehow figure it out and get people to play at a higher level. That’s what our goal should be, not trying to creatively create tighter ball games. Let’s make people better.”
“Play 16 team brackets, all 14 divisions, and let us go compete,” he later reiterated in a post-game interview. “I think that’s what kids want, that’s what coaches want and ultimately, that’s what the fans of the CIF Southern Section want, so let’s get it done and make it 16.”
St. John Bosco football head coach Jason Negro wants 16 teams in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. @boscofootball does not want a first round bye. pic.twitter.com/674VaPYzc4
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) October 28, 2023
