BELLFLOWER — St. John Bosco earned a bye for the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 football playoffs. Head coach Jason Negro wasn’t thrilled about it.
“I don’t understand why certain teams aren’t allowed the same number of playoff opportunities,” he said. “When you have the opportunity to get there and they push you back, that’s something that’s more challenging, but I think we’re going to be prepared for it.”
St. John Bosco shook off some bye-week rust to defeat Orange Lutheran 49-14 Friday at Panish Family Stadium.
The Braves overcame 18 penalties to advance to the Division 1 semifinals. They will play at Mission Viejo on Friday, Nov. 18.
Pierce Clarkson completed 21 of 28 passes for 301 yards and five touchdowns for St. John Bosco (10-1). He threw one interception. He also rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Matayo Uiagalelei caught three passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns. Chauncey Sylvester rushed for 95 yards on 13 carries. Cameron Jones scored a receiving touchdown and a rushing TD.
TJ Lateef completed 10 of 26 pass attempts for 26 yards for Orange Lutheran (7-5). Antonio Barrera rushed for 12 yards and a touchdown. Khanrad Hernandez threw a 43-yard touchdown pass. Tyler Hennessy caught two passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
St. John Bosco scored on its first drive when Clarkson dropped back and found the middle of the field wide-open, rushing for a 44-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Orange Lutheran’s defense factored in on the next Bosco drive when Deuce Frierson intercepted Clarkson on the Orange Lutheran 5-yard line and returned it 88 yards to the Bosco 7. That led to a Barrera 2-yard touchdown run to tie the score at seven near the end of the first quarter.
St. John Bosco scored the next four touchdowns. First, Clarkson hit DeAndre Moore on third down for a 41-yard touchdown pass and a 14-7 lead. Uiagalelei scored on touchdown passes from Clarkson, from 16- and 7-yards, respectively.
Then, after Daniel Odom forced a Lancer fumble, Clarkson threw deep to Jones for a 35-yard touchdown pass and a 35-7 lead.
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Orange Lutheran employed some trickery to score first in the second half. First, it recovered its onside kick at the St. John Bosco 43. On the next play, the Lancers completed a double pass from Lateef to Hernandez to Hennessy for a 43-yard touchdown pass. That cut the Bosco lead to 35-14.
The Braves were unfazed, increasing their lead to 42-14 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Clarkson to Israel Polk.
St. John Bosco picked up its seventh and final touchdown on a 5-yard run from Jones with less than five minutes left in the third quarter for a 49-14 lead.