MaxPreps Top 25 high school football scores: No. 1 Mater Dei beats No. 2 St. John Bosco, 59-14

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) left no doubt on who the best team in high school football is. The top-ranked Monarchs beat No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), 59-14. This was the first time any team put a running clock on Jason Negro since he took over as head coach in 2010.

This was the worst defeat for the Braves since the 2017 Southern Section Division 1 championship when Mater Dei won 49-24.

The Monarchs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after forcing a Daniel Odom fumble on the Braves opening possession. Dash Beierly connected with Kayden Dixon-Wyatt on a flea-flicker that went for a 35-yard touchdown on the next play. After an 11-0 lead after the first quarter, Mater Dei exploded for 34 points in the second quarter.

Jordon Davison scored to extend the lead to 17-0 with 10:54 left in the second quarter. After a 40-yard touchdown run from Beierly, Aaryn Washington intercepted St. John Bosco's freshman quarterback Koa Malau'ulu and returned it for a score to increase the lead to 31-0 with 7:51 remaining in the first half. Beierly threw for two more scores with one going to Gavin Honore and the other to Semi Taulanga to give the Monarchs a 45-0 halftime lead.

Beierly finished the night throwing for 309 yards and four scores to go with a 40-yard rushing touchdown.

Mater Dei closes out the regular season next week against No. 15 Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) on Nov. 1. The Lancers had one of the most impressive wins with a 38-0 shutout victory against a very good Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) team.

The biggest game in Texas went down to the wire as No. 8 North Shore (Houston) beat No. 16 Atascocita (Humble) 27-23 thanks to a late touchdown from Kaleb Bailey to Quanell Farrahkan Jr. with six seconds remaining. 

The biggest play came on a 2nd and 10 from Atascocita's 41-yard line as Bailey connected with Cameron Smith for a 35-yard completion. He made a juggling catch laying on his back to set up the Mustangs at the 5-yard line. Bailey found Farrahkan two plays later for the game-winning score.

The Eagles played the majority of the game without their four-star running back Tory Blaylock who didn't make his first appearance until the fourth quarter. It was the ninth consecutive win for the Mustangs against Atascocita as they improved to 8-0 on the season.

No. 6 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) needed overtime to hand East St. Louis (Ill.) its first loss of the season with a 14-13 win. After the Flyers scored on the first possession of overtime the Ascenders blocked the PAT. Ty Hawkins connected with freshman Eric Mcfarland lll for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth down. The Ascenders made the PAT for the 14-13 win. Up next is St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) on Nov. 1.

Dia Bell led American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) to a 42-38 win over No. 21 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) to close out the regular season. The Patriots erased a 38-28 fourth quarter deficit to gets its biggest win of the year. Bell completed 19 of 22 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns to go with 117 yards rushing and another score.

No. 20 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) and No. 24 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) were the only MaxPreps Top 25 teams that played on Saturday and both cruised to wins. The Crusaders beat St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.) 28-17 to win their seventh straight game.

The Stags dominated in the second half after trailing 7-0 against St. John's (Washington, D.C.) at halftime. They outscored the Cadets 31-8 in final 24 minutes. They have won seven in a row and close out the regular season next Friday against Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.).

• • 14
    St. John Bosco
  • 59
    Mater Dei

  10/25 Final

• • 0
    Johns Creek
  • 56
    Milton

  10/25 Final

• • 52
    Duncanville
  • 7
    Horn

  10/25 Final

• • 0
    Desert Pines
  • 61
    Bishop Gorman

  10/24 Final

• • 14
    IMG Academy
  • 13
    East St. Louis

  10/25 Final

• • 27
    North Shore
  • 23
    Atascocita

  10/25 Final

• • 24
    Edison
  • 49
    Mission Viejo

  10/25 Final

• • 67
    North Crowley
  • 0
    Boswell

  10/25 Final

• • 3
    Loyola Blakefield
  • 56
    Archbishop Spalding

  10/25 Final

• • 49
    Buford
  • 7
    Mountain View

  10/25 Final

• • 55
    Boyle County
  • 0
    Wayne County

  10/25 Final

• • 47
    Lakeland
  • 6
    Kathleen

  10/25 Final

• • 0
    Servite
  • 38
    Orange Lutheran

  10/25 Final

• • 17
    Cardinal Gibbons
  • 62
    Chaminade-Madonna

  10/25 Final

• • 0
    Sarasota
  • 76
    Venice

  10/25 Final

• • 28
    Bergen Catholic
  • 17
    St. Joseph Regional

  10/26 Final

• • 42
    American Heritage
  • 38
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  10/25 Final

• • 7
    Monte Vista
  • 42
    De La Salle

  10/25 Final

• • 21
    Norco
  • 60
    Centennial

  10/25 Final

• • 31
    DeMatha
  • 15
    St. John's

  10/26 Final

• • 63
    DeSoto
  • 24
    Cedar Hill

  10/25 Final