The reigning National Champions will compete against strong teams from Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, and Florida before taking on the challenging Trinity League lineup.
St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, unveiled its 2023 football schedule on Thursday, revealing a challenging lineup for the previous year’s National Champions. The Braves will go up against three teams that ranked among the top 10 in the country: Mater Dei High School from Santa Ana, California; St. Frances Academy in Baltimore; and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“We’re going to take a humble approach to 2023,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. “We know we have our work cut out for us and we better get to work because we have a very daunting task ahead of us.”
Besides their highly competitive Trinity League schedule, St. John Bosco (SJB) – a two-time High School Football America national champion since 2019 – is set to face two state title winners from 2022. These include St. Thomas Aquinas, the 7A Florida champion, and Kahuku, the Hawaii Open Division champion.
In 2022, the Braves emerged as national champions, boasting an impressive 13-1 record. They secured the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title by triumphing over Mater Dei, and went on to claim the CIF State Open Division championship by defeating San Mateo Serra.
The upcoming season will kick off with five non-league matches against teams from other states. Coach Negro is confident that this challenging schedule will keep the Braves in contention for the 2023 national championship.
“It’s a challenge,” Negro said, “and we’re always looking for ways and opportunities for us to put stress on our student-athletes, in order to test how much they can endure during the season.”
The Braves are set to start their Trinity League season on September 29, with an away game against Santa Margarita.
“Our goal is to win every game on our schedule,” Negro continued.
Bosco’s spring practice schedule features a notable College Showcase event, set to take place on May 10 at 4 p.m.
The spring practices will wrap up with the team’s yearly spring game on May 18 at 5 p.m.
With 19 seniors from the Class of 2023 having signed National Letters of Intent to play college football, Coach Negro is optimistic that the younger players will rise to the challenge of securing consecutive national championships, an achievement Bosco has yet to accomplish.
“If things go right and you win the games at the right time of the year, then you have an opportunity to be in that conversation,” Negro said.
St. John Bosco’s 2023 High School Football Schedule
TRINITY LEAGUE
- at Santa Margarita, Sept. 29
- vs. Servite, Oct. 6
- vs. Mater Dei, Oct. 13
“When you get those games at home, it obviously allows your fan base to have a little bit more intimate setting,” Negro said. “Our stadium is pretty unique and when this place is packed, it’s a pretty electric environment, and playing big games there gives us a little bit of an advantage, we feel.”
NONLEAGUE
- vs. Liberty, Nevada, Aug. 18
- at St. Thomas Aquinas, Florida, Aug. 26
- vs. Miami Norland, Florida, Sept. 1
- vs. St. Frances, Maryland, Sept. 8
- at Kahuku, Hawaii, Sept. 16
The Braves will conclude their Trinity League season with two away games against JSerra Catholic in San Juan Capistrano at Oct. 20, 2023 and Orange Lutheran in Orange at Oct. 27, 2023.
“At St. John Bosco, one of my number one priority is to try to provide the student-athletes within our program great experiences and to embrace the cultures of which we have within our program,” Negro explained. “I think for us to be able to not only host the Kahuku Red Raider Nation (in 2022) but for us to go onto the island and take our notoriety or prestige that we have within our program and allow their community to experience that game that we got to experience here last year, is just a great way for us to show our appreciation for them and to show the appreciation to our families and the kids in our program that we do have a lot of excitement for them and want to celebrate their Polynesian descent. It’s a great way to bring two really cool communities together.”