Week 10 Prep Roundup: Caleb Sanchez' 6 TDPs lead No. 1 St. John Bosco into CIF Playoffs
Senior quarterback Caleb Sanchez completed 23 of 31 passes for 396 yards, six touchdowns and one interception as nationally top-ranked St. John Bosco beat Orange Lutheran 44-22 in a Trinity League football game at Orange Coast College Friday night (Oct. 27).
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.
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“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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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In one of the biggest games of the weekend, No. 11 DeSoto (Texas) snapped No. 8 Duncanville's (Texas) 22-game win streak with a 49-35 victory. It was the first time since 2016 the Eagles took down the Panthers. The game was originally scheduled on Friday but was moved to Saturday because of weather.
Junior wide receiver Daylon Singleton got things started for the Eagles catching a 76-yard touchdown from DJ Bailey on the first play of the game. After a Duncanville field goal, Singleton returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score to take a 14-3 lead early in the first quarter.
LSU-bound running back Caden Durham ran it in from 36 yards out to tie the score at 14 in the final minute of the opening frame. After a Marvin Duffey touchdown run for DeSoto, Durham scored his second TD of the afternoon with a 60-yard scamper to tie it at 21 with 5:18 left in the second quarter. The Eagles answered right back as Singleton caught his second score of the first half. Bailey connected with Antonio Pride on the final play of the second quarter for a 22-yard touchdown to give DeSoto a 35-21 halftime lead.
After both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, DeSoto scored the first points of the second half as Bailey found Kristoff Fantroy for an 11-yard touchdown to take a 42-21 lead with 11:32 remaining. Five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore hauled in a 63-yard touchdown from Keelon Russell to cut the deficit to 42-28 with 10:58 left. Duffey added his second rushing touchdown of the game with 4:58 left to ice the game for the Eagles. Duncanville entered Saturday's contest allowing 26 points total through its first seven games.
No. 19 North Shore (Houston) improved to 9-0 with an impressive 61-35 win over No. 33 Atascocita (Humble). It was the first loss of the season for the Eagles. Junior quarterback Kaleb Bailey threw for four touchdowns with three going to Terrence Guillory II. Bailey added a rushing score and five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez had a pick-six. The Mustangs won every game by double digits this season and have gone 24-1 since the start of 2022. The only loss came against Duncanville 28-21 in last year's 6A Division 1 state championship.
No. 3 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) was in a tight contest with No. 85 Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) and pulled away late for a 35-19 win. The Eagles had the ball at the Monarch 29 trailing 21-19 in the final five minutes but Mater Dei recorded back-to-back sacks to force a turnover on downs. Nate Frazier ran it in from 48 yards out on the next play and Jeilani Davis iced the game with a pick-six. They will be the No. 2 seed.
No. 22 Centennial (Corona) cruised to a 55-0 win over Norco on Thursday and No. 15 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) finished the regular
No. 14 Massillon cruised to a 42-6 win in the opening round over Central Crossing (Grove City) in Ohio's Division II bracket. Massillon will face Westerville South (Westerville) next week.
Isaac Wilson led No. 48 Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) to a 52-0 win over Layton. The four-star Utah commit threw for four scores giving him 50 total touchdowns on the season. The Chargers will host Lone Peak (Highland) next week in the 6A quarterfinals.
No. 16 St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) quest for a three-peat got underway with a 42-0 win against Elyria in the opening round of the Division 1 playoffs. The Eagles are trying to become the first team since 1995 to win at least three consecutive Division 1 state titles. St. Ignatius (Cleveland) won five in a row from 1991-95.