Q&A with Eric Sondheimer: Who will win, St. John Bosco or Centennial?

Video: No. 1 St. John Bosco vs. No. 2 Centennial

Los Angeles Times award-winning columnist Eric Sondheimer has covered high school sports in Southern California since 1976, the same year John Elway arrived at Granada Hills (Calif.).

Since then, he's covered more of our nation's top athletes as preps, including Russell Westbrook, Bret Saberhagen, Giancarlo Stanton, James Harden, Stanley Johnson, Josh Rosen and Kawhi Leonard, to name a few.

On Saturday, he'll be at Angel Stadium in Anaheim for what some around the Southland consider the biggest high school football game pitting two Southern California teams.

St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) — No. 1 in both the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard and the Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard — plays No. 2 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) for the Southern Section Pac-5 Division title, with both a state Open Division bid and possible mythical national championship in the balance.

It's only the sixth time since the turn of the century the top two teams in the nation have been pitted against each other.

We asked Sondheimer not only to break down the game but put it into context with these eight questions.

MaxPreps: We think two years ago, you wrote or tweeted that the St. John Bosco team of 2013 was either the best or one of the best you ever covered? If so, is this SJB team as good or better?

Eric Sondheimer: The 2013 St. John Bosco team was as good as any team I've seen because of its experience, depth, size in the line and talent at skill positions. This year's St. John Bosco team has similar depth and a much-improved defense from a year ago. The quarterback, Quentin Davis, has only two interceptions and has made people forget that he took over for Josh Rosen

MP: What makes SJB so good?
ES: The defensive line has played very well, particularly junior Jacob Callier. Their ability to rush passers and also stop the run has been key. No team has scored more than 21 points against them.

MP: Where roughly would you rank this Centennial team among all those coached by Matt Logan?
ES: This is a good team but to be the best it would have to win this week and on Dec. 19 against De La Salle. There have been better offensive lines but the defense is much improved and receiver Javon Mckinley is the best in the state in my opinion. The secondary is outstanding and quarterback Anthony Catalano is a tough kid who knows the offense as well as his coach.

MP: Where would you rank this week's SJB-Centennial game in terms of Southland high school sports?
ES: I wrote a column on Monday saying this is the best high school football game in Southern California since Long Beach Poly-De La Salle in 2001 and St. John Bosco-De La Salle in 2013. Two 13-0 teams with great coaches who are evenly matched running no-huddle offenses with size, speed and discipline.

MP: Where do you see SJB having an advantage?
ES: St. John Bosco has more depth and more size on both lines. It also has Sean McGrew, the speedy running back who usually comes through in big games. If the defense can stop Centennial's rushing attack and deny big plays, advantage St. John Bosco.

MP: Where do you see Centennial having an advantage?
ES: J.J. Taylor at running back is underrated even though he's going to Arizona and had 10 touchdowns in the first two games. If the line creates opportunities for him to get his speed in gear, watch out. But St. John Bosco's defense has been very tough all season, so the Huskies are going to have to be patient and pick up yards where they can, putting together long drives to keep the Braves' offense off the field. Orange Lutheran did that and is the only team to prevent a running clock against St. John Bosco.

MP: If you had to predict a winner, who would it be and why?
ES: I think the team with the ball last will win. St. John Bosco probably deserves to be a slight favorite based on its dominating performance in the semifinals against Bishop Amat.

MP: Care to give a score or how many points will be scored?
ES: First team to 42 points wins.