Prediction: St. John Bosco (Calif.) falls short of Open Division title

The 2025 high school football season will be getting underway in just a few short weeks, which means it’s officially preview season. Rivals is breaking down the nation’s top teams from coast-to-coast, and today we make our way back over to the Golden State as the 4-time state champion St. John Bosco of California prepare for the fall season. Always in the mix of competing for a mythical national championship and chasing the CIF Open Division title, the Braves bring back another stack roster. The road block to all that is No. 1-ranked Mater Dei Monarchs. Will St. John Bosco be able to defeat their rivals come December?

Player Spotlight: WR Madden Williams

The 4-star 6-foot-2, 185-pound pass catcher is one of California’s top returning wide receivers this 2025 season and looks primed to have himself a strong senior campaign. Williams has already committed to Texas A&M and with his commitment behind him, surpassing the 1,000-yard plateau looks to be more than well within range for him. In 2024, Williams caught 50 passes for 851 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Others to watch: CB Jailen Hill, S Isala Wily-Ava, WR Daniel Odom, ATH Joshua Holland, WR Carson Clark, QB Koa Malau’ulu, EDGE Dutch Horisk, CB Jacob Whitehead, S Dillon Davis, RB Maliq Allen, LB Matthew Muasau

Season Prediction: 9-1

We mentioned this in the opening, but the team that always seemingly gets in the way of St. John Bosco is Mater Dei and 2025 plays out unfortunately no different. The rival Monarchs are stacked from top to bottom and it’s hard to see this being the season that the Braves get over the proverbial hump. Otherwise, we see the Braves beating everyone else on their schedule. That includes from starting the season in Florida against Manatee to the back-to-back road games against Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita Catholic. Only losses we see whatsoever will come against Mater Dei.

Game-By-Game Predictions

Aug. 22 – at Manatee (Fla.) Hurricanes – W
Playing in the East-West Classic down in Bradenton, Florida is this first test of the season for the Braves. We have St. John Bosco pulling away with the victory in the Sunshine State.

Aug. 29 – Eastwood (Texas) Troopers – W
Welcoming in the Troopers of Texas into Panish Family Stadium, the Braves send them back to the Lone Star State with a loss.

Sept. 5 – St. Frances Academy (MD) Panthers – W
This national showdown has game of the week vibes as the Panthers of Baltimore come into town. Bosco defends home turf to pickup the win.

Sept. 12 – Junipero Serra (Calif.) Padres – W
First game of the season against a California-based opponent ends with a fourth straight win.

Sept. 19 – St. Louis (Hawaii) Crusaders – W
Crusaders are coming all the way from the Hawaiian islands to the mainland to face the Braves, with the latter picking up the big victory.

Oct. 3 – at JSerra Catholic (Calif.) Lions – W
The Braves go on the road for only the second time this season and win by three scores over JSerra Catholic.

Oct. 10 – at Orange Lutheran (Calif.) Lancers – W
St. John Bosco wins a seventh straight in a dominant performance at Orange Lutheran.

Oct. 17 – at Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.) Eagles – W
Up against Carson Palmer’s Eagles, St. John Bosco rolls to another big road win.

Oct. 24 – Servite (Calif.) Friars – W
The Braves cruise to a 42-12 win heading into the most important game of the season.

Oct. 31 – Mater Dei (Calif.) Monarchs – L
Probably little doubt that this is the must-see game on Halloween from anywhere around the country. The Braves drop their lone regular season contest to the Monarchs heading into the CIF playoffs.