CERRITOS, CA-The St. John Bosco football team came out and punched Corona Centennial in the mouth in the first quarter of their CIF state regional Open Division bowl game played at Cerritos College. The Braves lit up the Huskies for two quick touchdowns in the first period and threatened to make the game a laughter when they put themselves in position for another score.
But Corona Centennial, sensing some pride, came right back at St. John Bosco with a couple of jabs and counterpunches of their own, forcing the Braves to go into halftime with the score knotted at 21. Sometimes a punchers’ chance is all anyone need, and Corona Centennial made the best of its opportunity by hitting up St. John Bosco with some trick plays and up temp speed that may have caught the Braves off guard a little bit toward the end of the first half.
Corona Centennial had to feel good about its chances of a possible upset going into intermission with a 21-21 tie. That was the first half. The last two quarters were entire different. Like a great heavyweight fighter, St. John Bosco came out in the third quarter and delivered the knockout blow with four touchdowns in the period to let Corona Centennial know that they are the top sheriff in Southern California. At least for this year.
Using the legs and speed of sophomore running back Sean McGrew, St. John Bosco used those four touchdowns in the third quarter to turn a tight games into a runaway contest as the Braves ended any drama about who is the best football team in Southern California with a stupendous 70-49 win.
Up next for the Braves is the CIF Open Division state championship game against Concord De La Salle, the state’s perennial football power over the last decade.
But let’s get back to this matchup, which figured to be a shootout between the two high-powered offenses. It was, except that St. John Bosco had more offensive artillery than the visiting Huskies. Well, namely Corona Centennial had no answer in solving the McGrew puzzle. Then again, no one else has been able to stop the ‘Super Sophomore’ this season.
Already designated to become one of the nation’s top recruits the next two years, McGrew’s legend continues to grow game by game. He added some more hype to his already legendary status with seven touchdowns (yes, seven touchdowns!) to lead St. John Bosco to the win against Corona Centennial.
Of his total 366 yards rushing on the night, McGrew took off for 154 yards and three scores through the first two quarters, including a dazzlying 59-yard run in the second period. Five of his touchdowns were at least 46 yards or more. On the flip side of the coin, Corona Centennial putting up 49 points against this St. John Bosco team is no slouch of a job, either.
The Huskies stayed in the game as close as they could with dynamic play of quarterback Robert Webber (5 touchdowns) and wide receiver Barry Ware (four touchdown catches). Against any other team, 49 points would have been enough for Corona Centennial to advance to the state title game. Unfortunately for the Huskies, St. John Bosco isn’t quite like any other team they’ve faced.
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Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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