Serra Impresses, But Bosco Dazzles

The Serra Padres put up more points and yards in Saturday’s game against the St. John Bosco Braves than they had in their three CIF Open Division Championship appearances combined.

But a Braves roster filled to the brim with not only Division I talent, but likely future NFL talent, still ruled the day and left San Mateo with a 56-16 win.

“You tip your hat when they soar through the air and make a great catch,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said.

In a matchup of teams headlined by talented underclassmen, a pair of Bosco freshmen made the plays that helped the visitors pull away.

Darren Tubbs Jr. caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Matai Fuiava to give St. John Bosco (4-0) a 21-10 lead with 2:38 left in the first half, and Brandon Nash’s interception killed Serra’s hopes of going into halftime down by just one score.

The Braves scored again before going into the locker room as highly touted junior receiver Madden Williams drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd with a 1-on-1 catch in the corner of the end zone with 3 seconds to go in the second quarter. Ashton Keyes’ touchdown run six plays into the third quarter made it 35-10. Cole Clifton’s 93-yard pick-six triggered a running clock for the final 9:56.

“Those were 14-point swings that felt like 30-point swings,” Walsh reflected.

That’s not to say Serra (1-2) was completely overmatched. Considering that the Padres’ three Open Division appearances against Bosco and Trinity League rival Mater Dei were decided by an average of 39 points, it would have been fair to expect a rout from the start. But the Padres were tied late in the first quarter, trailed just 14-10 midway through the second and racked up 381 yards of total offense.

“They could play in the Trinity League. They play a physical brand of football and they’re really well-coached,” Braves head coach Jason Negro said. “You have to give them credit for what they’ve been able to accomplish. We’ve got 10 million people in LA, and it’s a lot different from pulling from San Mateo and some of the surrounding areas.”

The separation came in the big plays. To go with Clifton’s 93-yard pick-six, the Braves also had a pair of offensive touchdowns over 60 yards, and Tubbs’ two touchdowns were 30 and 32 yards. Tubbs also had a 45-yard punt return after the Padres punted on their first drive.

“I’m really impressed with him and his overall abilities,” Negro said. “He’s a really humble kid. It’s gonna vary from week to week who’s gonna get open, and the guys gotta make plays when they have the chance to do so.”

That punt return didn’t lead to a score, as the Braves threw a pair of incompletions on third- and fourth-and-goal from the 3, but they returned the favor by stopping Serra on downs after allowing a 37-yard Nano Latu catch-and-run. On the first play of Bosco’s second drive, sophomore Maliq Allen hit a hole up the middle for a 63-yard touchdown.

Serra answered quickly as Andrew Heneghan hit tight end Clay Hinsdale on a wheel route for a 60-yard pickup to set up Jeovanni Henley’s 4-yard touchdown run, but the Braves again needed just one play to strike, firing back on Fuiava’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Carson Clark.

Fuiava completed 11 of 16 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns. His understudy, freshman Koa Malau’ulu, took over after the opening drive of the second half. Malau’ulu completed five of nine passes for 90 yards, threw for a touchdown and ran five times for another 41.

The Padres held the ball for the next eight minutes on a 15-play drive that included a 35-yard Chris Yoon reception to convert a fourth-and-4, but settled for a 23-yard Brody Smith field goal after stalling out in the red zone. Fuiava completed four passes on the next possession, the last of which was the 30-yard touchdown to Tubbs.

Jeremy Lenore’s 6-yard touchdown run gave Bosco a 42-10 lead with 8:50 left in the third quarter after the Braves defense forced a three-and-out. Latu found the end zone from 3 yards out after Charlie Walsh’s 45-yard kick return gave Serra good field position, but Tubbs caught his second touchdown two minutes later.

Heneghan completed 13 of 23 passes for 273 yards while Latu ran 20 times for 61 and caught three passes for 96. Hinsdale had five receptions for 86 yards.

“There’s a lot of massively positive takeaways from a game where we’re challenging ourselves against the best in the nation,” Walsh said. “Scouts can look at the talent that we have here and see that those guys can play with these kids. They have three-game highlight films against Folsom, De La Salle and St. John Bosco. The film never lies, and things are already blowing up for (right tackle) Louis (Akpa) and a couple of our other guys.”