Top-ranked St. John Bosco, D.J. Uiagalelei fly past De La Salle 49-28

Video: First half highlights

NORWALK, Calif. — Generational is a term often bantered about these days. DJ Uiagalelei put his stamp on that moniker in his final high school game.

The St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) senior quarterback delivered a performance that will be remembered around Southern and Northern California regions for years to come by throwing for 398 yards and four touchdowns as the nation's No. 1 team won their third CIF State championship in since 2013 with a fun and big-play happy 49-28 victory over a feisty and eighth-ranked De La Salle (Concord.) squad Saturday at Cerritos College. 

In a game that featured more than 900 yards, the biggest play actually was delivered on the defensive end when Matthew Jordan picked up a botched quarterback-running back exchange and sprinted 96 yards for a touchdown just as it seemed almost certain that De La Salle was going in for a score that would closed Bosco's gap to a single score. Instead, the 14-point swing took all the air of an otherwise tight second half and gave Bosco its final margin with 3:28 remaining.

After a three-and-out, the Braves (13-1) ran out the clock, securing their third state crown, all over the Spartans. More importantly, it almost assuredly locked up their first national championship.

"It's been a heck of a ride," Bosco coach Jason Negro said. "I think the thing that not too many people realize how difficult our schedule we just played and the road we had to go through to win a state title in California is one of the more challenging tasks any team has to go through.

"To have to go through and beat Calabasas and Centennial-Corona and Mater Dei and then De La Salle. It was daunting and our kids had to come to work every single week and be prepared and I think our guys did a really good job of that. I couldn't be prouder of these guys."

It didn't come without a fight, even though the Braves led wire-to-wire.

De La Salle got monumental efforts from running back Shamar Garrett (113 yards rushing, three touchdowns, 12 tackles) and quarterback Dorian Hale (259 total yards), but every time the Spartans broke off a big play, Uiagalelei answered — either with his arm or legs. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Clemson-bound quarterback, compared often in size and arm strength to Ben Roethlisberger, threw touchdown passes of 20 yards to Kris Hutson, 6 yards to JonJon Vaughns, 71 yards to Beaux Collins and 12 yards to Logan Loya.

Three of his receivers ran freely through a talented and fleet De La Salle secondary and broke the century yard-mark: Oregon-bound Hutson (seven catches, 133 yards), UCLA-bound Loya (8, 117) and Collins (4, 102).

Time-after-time, Uiagalelei threaded the needle often while chased out of the pocket. That or he ran for big chunks of yards.

"He just showed so much poise," Negro said. "He just hangs in there and makes good decision. He's a remarkable young man as well as quarterback."

Uiagalelei finished the season with 4,213 yards passing, 48 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

"He's going to Clemson for a reason," De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. "He was even better in person than he was on film."

After the Spartans closed to a 35-28 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Garrett, his third score of the night, Uiagalelei responded immediately with completions of 24, 29 and 11 yards to Loya, before scrambling left and into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown, making it 42-28.

He had a team-high 64 yards rushing on five carries to finish the season with 408 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

"I wasn't too worried about it," Uiagalelei told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "We didn't get very nervous on the sideline. It's just a ballgame. We just gotta come out and execute."

De La Salle (12-2), which is now 7-7 in state-championship play, answered Uiagalelei's touchdown run with a methodical drive from its own 20, capped by a 10-yard run by Garrett, all the way to the Bosco 2. Two plays later, the missed exchanged was picked up by Jordan, who showed superb speed for a 6-2, 235-pound defensive lineman, racing untouched the other way. "For a defensive lineman that was obviously a very impressive play," Negro said. "Honestly, I was just hoping he didn't trip." 

Alumbaugh hoped he had and fumbled back to the Spartans. But that was asking too much, as was probably playing a perfect game to beat the No. 1 team in the nation. It was De La Salle's only turnover of the night after committing 13 the previous three title games and fumbling 17 times.

He asked the Spartans for the best versions of themselves going into the game. Other than the final flub and 14-point swing, he largely got it. De La Salle piled up 403 yards, but Bosco amassed 537.

"We did some real good things, but ultimately we just made too many mistakes," a subdued Alumbaugh said. "We were piling up the yards and scoring, but we just couldn't stop them. We missed a couple shots down field. We needed to put more pressure on their quarterback and had some breakdowns in the secondary. But we had to play nearly perfect to beat a team like that. "It would have been fun to make it a one-score game. It would have been great and who knows? Our kids showed a lot of heart and toughness."

As did the Braves.

"That was a war between our team and their team," Negro said. "It was super physical. Both teams just kept battling. Both teams got up and kept fighting. I was just proud of our entire team for that."

He was also proud of fighting off all of De La Salle's challenges.

"We just wore down a bit," Negro said. "They are so good and so well conditioned. Justin does an amazing job with the culture of that program. They just beat you up. I thought they were going to wear down. It just didn't happen. They continued to battle and those two little backs they have killed it, their quarterback is a baller. That's a great program and for us to beat them in that manner by three scores is pretty impressive." 

Other than a missed 28-yard field goal, De La Salle played a clean first half, but it didn't really matter. Uiagalelei was brilliant, completing 13-of-15 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

He moved out the pocket, completed throws on the run with the grace of a much smaller athlete, plus he gained 44 yards on three carries. The 5-star recruit opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Hutson, completing an 8-play, 72-yard drive, making it 7-0 with 7:33 left in the first half. On Bosco's next possession, Hutson caught an 8-yard pass, but Garrett forced a fumble and Kairo Reed recovered at the Bosco 23. The Spartans drove to 6, but the drive stalled and after a procedure call, Blas Guerrero drilled a 28-yard field goal that he and the Spartans thought was good. The referees, however, said it didn't sail inside the right upright and Bosco had dodged a bullet.

The Braves then marched right down the field 80 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 7-yard touchdown run from Rayshon Luke, and looked in command, up 14-0 with 4:54 left in the half.

The Spartans, who had given up just three first-half touchdowns since Sept. 27, had allowed three scores and 289 yards in the first half. They managed three touchdowns and had a fourth — a 70-yard touchdown bomb to Zeke Berry — called back by a holding call, but Bosco managed four touchdowns.

"We just couldn't get over the hump," Alumbaugh said. "It was sad and a bummer because I really wanted it for our guys. I love this team. The senior group has been great."

Negro had equal love for his seniors, including Uiagalelei, who finished with more than 10,000 career passing yards and 127 touchdown passes. Most important, he and the Braves delivered a national crown.

"That's been our goal since day one, you know?" he told the Press-Telegram. "That's what we've been working for since January, for 11 months, and I'm just happy to do it."