Mater Dei and St. John Bosco clash in CIF Southern Section Division 1 final, again
Here we go again.
St. John Bosco and Mater Dei will battle for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title for the sixth time since 2016. It makes it the seventh all-time meeting in a CIF final between the two programs. St. John Bosco leads the all-time series 4-2 in CIF finals.
This year's edition will be played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Friday night at 7 p.m. and broadcast on Bally Sports Network and NFHS.
St. John Bosco (11-1) beat Mater Dei (11-1) in last year's final at the Rose Bowl, 24-22, and defeated the Monarchs in Trinity League play earlier this season, 28-0.
Despite a shutout victory, Calpreps.com predicts Mater Dei to win 28-17 Friday night.
"Good thing for us is we're still the underdog," St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. "That's fine with us. We don't have a problem with that. That 28-0 win seems so long ago, Friday's game is like a new event and that's how we are going to treat it."
Mater Dei senior defensive Jeilani Davis has taken the last two defeats to Bosco personally.
"Nobody likes to lose, especially to your archrivals," Davis said. "We definitely take it very personal and that's why we go back to the drawing board, fix our mistakes and correct what we can correct."
Mater Dei cruised to the final, defeating JSerra 38-0 and Sierra Canyon 42-14. St. John Bosco topped San Clemente 35-10 but barely squeaked by Corona Centennial in the semifinal, 43-42.
St. John Bosco senior defensive back Marcelles Williams has a good perspective on Friday's final.
"It's the biggest game of my career, not because it's the final, but because it's the next game I have," he said.
Mater Dei or St. John Bosco has played in every CIF Southern Section Division 1 (or Pac-5) final since 2012. The last final to not include either was when Santa Margarita defeated San Clemente 27-13 in 2011.
MATCHUP HISTORY
St. John Bosco beat the Monarchs six straight times from 2011 to 2015, including the 2013 Pac-5 CIF title game at Angel Stadium.
Starting in 2016, Mater Dei started to tip the scale, winning eight of the next 11 games, including the 2022 regular-season matchup, edging St. John Bosco 17-7.
St. John Bosco has won the last two meetings, including last year's CIF final and this year's Trinity League duel.
That puts the record between the two programs at 11-8 in favor of St. John Bosco since 2011. But Mater Dei owns the all-time series, 29-13, since the first game was played in 1966.
