Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco Preview

<p>Two of the nation's best teams will play each other on Friday: Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.</p>   <p>Mater Dei has a 90-4 record since 2016 and all four losses came to St. John Bosco, including the 2022 CIF-SS Division 1 championship game.</p>   <p>St. John Bosco is 84-12 since 2016, eight of those losses have come to Mater Dei.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/johnwdavis/status/1710542308331094111?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>Here is a breakdown of each position group and who I think has the advantage:</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>QUARTERBACK</strong></h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='683642' first='Elijah' last='Brown'] of Mater Dei has completed 73 percent of his passes for 239 yards per game with 25 touchdowns and four interceptions.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115455' first='Caleb' last='Sanchez'] of St. John Bosco has completed 78 percent of his passes for 265 yards per game with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions.</p>   <p>It's important to note that six of Mater Dei's seven games have been blowouts in which Brown was not throwing much in the second half. Brown is committed to Stanford and Sanchez recently got an offer from Houston Christian.</p>   <p><strong>Advantage: </strong>Mater Dei</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/johnwdavis/status/1710541700442234934?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>RUNNING BACKS</strong></h2>   <p>Mater Dei has run for 980 yards on 159 carries with 11 touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='282698' first='Jordon' last='Davison'] has run for 579 yards and seven touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='273546' first='Nate' last='Frazier'] has 328 yards on just 41 carries with two touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='115462' first='Ajon' last='Bryant'] is also a high-level running back who Mater Dei uses more in the passing game than the running game.</p>   <p>St. John Bosco has run for 1078 yards on 191 attempts with 16 touchdowns. UCLA commit [player_tooltip player_id='398389' first='Cameron' last='Jones'] leads the team with 449 yard on just 56 carries with eight touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='115464' first='Chauncey' last='Sylvester'] has 364 yards with six touchdowns. The breakout back for the Braves has been <strong>Jeremy Lenore</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='147723' first='Khalil' last='Warren'] has five yards per attempt.</p>   <p>This is incredibly difficult to judge.</p>   <p><strong>Advantage: </strong>Mater Dei (slightly)</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>RECEIVERS</strong> </h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='683685' first='Marcus' last='Brown'] is averaging 21 yards per catch for Mater Dei and has eight touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='401273' first='Kayden' last='Dixon-Wyatt'] is a rising sophomore with 19 yards per catch with five touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='282711' first='Marcus' last='Harris'] is a big play receiver and [player_tooltip player_id='115472' first='Jack' last='Ressler'] is always capable of making plays after the catch. Two rising sophomores get playing time for the Monarchs in [player_tooltip player_id='283630' first='Jonah' last='Smith'] and [player_tooltip player_id='292489' first='JuJu' last='Parm'].</p>   <p>Chaparral transfer [player_tooltip player_id='398478' first='Stacy' last='Dobbins'] is the leading receiver for the Braves. [player_tooltip player_id='115470' first='Tommy' last='Maher'] is the safety blanket for Sanchez and the sophomore duo of [player_tooltip player_id='283605' first='Daniel' last='Odom'] and [player_tooltip player_id='209113' first='Madden' last='Williams'] is electric. [player_tooltip player_id='723682' first='Kamryn' last='Jones'] is capable of big plays and [player_tooltip player_id='270895' first='Owen' last='Tomich'] is overqualified to be a fifth or sixth receiver.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/bylucaevans/status/1596374273849192449?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>OFFENSIVE LINE</strong></h2>   <p>Mater Dei is loaded up front with two of the top tackles in the state: [player_tooltip player_id='147719' first='DeAndre' last='Carter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='147730' first='Brandon' last='Baker']. Baker is committed to Texas and Carter is committed to Auburn. [player_tooltip player_id='282776' first='Sione' last='Tohi'] is an elite junior on the offensive line. <strong>Christian Fallani</strong> is the center and freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='403058' first='Lex' last='Mailangi']</strong> are the other two starters.</p>   <p>St. John Bosco is led by SMU commit [player_tooltip player_id='273573' first='King' last='Large'] on the offensive line. [player_tooltip player_id='282718' first='Matai' last='Jefferson'] is a very good run blocker up front and <strong>Matthew Perdue</strong> has some sneaky strength. </p>   <p><strong>Advantage: </strong>Mater Dei</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/boscofootball/status/1707941745231864028?s=20 </div></figure>   <p> </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>DEFENSIVE LINE/EDGE RUSHERS</strong></h2>   <p>Mater Dei is led by [player_tooltip player_id='115434' first='Aydin' last='Breland'] on the interior of the defensive line along with [player_tooltip player_id='723702' first='Semi' last='Taulanga'] and [player_tooltip player_id='147757' first='Zeus' last='Venegas']. The Monarchs defense has 78 tackles for a loss. The edge rushers are [player_tooltip player_id='195568' first='Tanner' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='282774' first='Nasir' last='Wyatt'], arguably the best edge rushing combination in the state. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='212233' first='Shaun' last='Scott'] is also a rising edge rusher.</p>   <p>St. John Bosco has fewer big names on the defensive line, but sophomore edge rusher [player_tooltip player_id='401241' first='Dutch' last='Horisk'] is one of the Trinity League leaders in sacks. <strong>Lance Olive-Enos</strong> is another quality sophomore on the defensive line. </p>   <p><strong>Advantage: </strong>Mater Dei</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/dutch_eat/status/1708188363852009679?s=20 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>LINEBACKERS</strong></h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115438' first='Ramere' last='Davis'] is a linebacker who is tough for offensive linemen to bounce to at the second level. 9 of his 12 tackles this season are for a loss. [player_tooltip player_id='723696' first='Abduall' last='Sanders'] leads Mater Dei in tackles and has been one of the breakout defensive players of the season. [player_tooltip player_id='283606' first='Dash' last='Fifita'] is another linebacker to keep an eye on.</p>   <p>This is the strength of Bosco's team. [player_tooltip player_id='115443' first='Kyngstonn' last='Viliamu-Asa'] (Notre Dame), [player_tooltip player_id='115469' first='Jordan' last='Lockhart'] (Texas A&M) and [player_tooltip player_id='273572' first='Khmori' last='House'] (Washington) are the best linebacker trio I have ever seen. [player_tooltip player_id='689918' first='Ashtin' last='Lopes'] is another linebacker to watch for the Braves.</p>   <p><strong>Advantage: </strong>St. John Bosco</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>SECONDARY</strong></h2>   <p>Mater Dei is younger in the secondary but they are athletic. Alabama commit [player_tooltip player_id='147715' first='Zabien' last='Brown'] leads the secondary. [player_tooltip player_id='195537' first='Jeilani' last='Davis'] leads the team with four interceptions and [player_tooltip player_id='282700' first='Daryus' last='Dixson'] has three. [player_tooltip player_id='282734' first='Chuck' last='McDonald III'] is a strong cover corner and [player_tooltip player_id='283622' first='Jayden' last='Crowder'] is always in the mix. Keep an eye out for long snapper <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='942967' first='Rylan' last='Vagana']</strong> who also plays some safety. </p>   <p>St. John Bosco is incredibly difficult to move the ball on through the air because of its secondary. USC commit [player_tooltip player_id='115432' first='Marcelles' last='Williams'] leads the pack along with Alabama commit [player_tooltip player_id='115433' first='Peyton' last='Woodyard']. [player_tooltip player_id='398450' first='Frankie' last='Edwards III'] has been good at corner along with [player_tooltip player_id='273626' first='Tamal' last='Johnson'] and young [player_tooltip player_id='212235' first='Tay' last='Lockett']. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='943025' first='Dillon' last='Rickenbacker']</strong> is not as big a name as the others, but leads the secondary in tackles with 34.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Chuck20fficial/status/1706098190351729068?s=20 </div></figure>

Two of the nation's best teams will play each other on Friday: Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.