St. John Bosco Rumbles Passed the Los Alamitos Defense (2021)

Bellflower – Panish Family Stadium

The Griffin’s looked ready to slug punch for punch with St. John Bosco, as they came out and scored on the opening drive of the game. It was a quick 7-yard shovel pass from Malachi Nelson to Deandre Moore that got them on the board.

However, it ended up being the Braves running game that was throwing the harder punches Friday night. As they corralled a lively Los Alamitos offense, going on to win 63-38.

Following the opening score for the Griffins the Braves retaliated scoring 21 unanswered points, all coming from the ground. The first Bosco touchdown was run in by Rayshon Luke who opened their first possession with a 68-yard TD run.

It wasn’t a game where the Griffins offense was completely stifled though as Los Al put up 5 passing TDs, but the biggest scores proved to be on the side of the Braves.

Their run game was relentless; led on by Luke who was in a world of his own, and found himself on a field of his own with all kinds of open space. He averaged just under 25 yards a carry scoring three times

Defensively the Griffins never adjusted, limiting Bosco to one passing touchdown and intercepting a pass, but giving up 588 yards on the ground and 8 rushing touchdowns.

For every Los Al score the Braves responded, and the real difference was for every scoreless drive by the Griffins it felt like Bosco was tacking onto their lead which ballooned to 25 by the end of the contest.

These quick responses had the Griffins trailing 17-35 at halftime, but a defensive stop backed by a blocked punt that was then recovered by Isaiah Dorsey made it look like the Griffins might be gaining momentum to start the third quarter.

Nelson would find Ethan O’connor in the back of the end zone for a quick score, and had the Griffins within 11. That was as close as the game ever got though as Pierce Clarkson silenced the crowd with a 77-yard TD pass right away.

The two teams would trade touchdowns once more in the third quarter, bringing the score to 31-49 when the final quarter began play. But a 15-yard run from Jabari Bates to extend the lead to 25 shut the door on any comeback.

Malachi Nelson had a 5 touchdown day, but the 38 points by the Griffins offense wasn’t enough in a shootout with St. John Bosco.

It was a tough matchup for the Griffins who came into the game (9-1) and were matched up with a top team in the nation because of it, but the team had its moments and opportunities against the Braves just not enough of them to come away with the victory.