No. 1 St. John Bosco vs. No. 2 Corona Centennial: 5 Burning Questions

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

The Pac-5 Division Championship Game between Centennial (Corona, Calif.) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) ranks as one of the biggest high school games of all time. It's not only the game of the century, it just might be the game of two centuries, which leads to five burning questions ...

1. How will Centennial stop Quentin Davis?

As a junior, Quentin Davis threw just 10 passes, completing seven for 98 yards and a touchdown. Of course he was sitting behind All-American Josh Rosen, who is now starting at UCLA as a true freshman. Learning behind a potential first round NFL draft pick has apparently been good for Davis because he has put up even better numbers than Rosen did as a senior.

Through 13 games, Davis has completed 201 of 288 passes for 3,457 yards and 39 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Compare that to Rosen, who was 199 of 313 for 3,186 with 29 touchdowns and four interceptions in 14 games last season.

So how does Centennial stop Davis? Not an easy answer as Davis has, perhaps, been at his best against the toughest teams. In the quarterfinals against Loyola, he threw for 375 yards and five touchdowns. In a 63-10 win over Bishop Amat last week, he added 305 yards and four touchdowns.

Mater Dei might have an answer to the question, however. In one of the few close games for the Braves this year, Mater Dei held Davis without a touchdown pass and only 11 of 20 passing for 129 yards.

However, the Monarchs were unable to stop the run in that game as St. John Bosco had 314 yards on the ground with six rushing touchdowns.

Centennial has done a good job against the passing game this season, giving up an average of 181 yards per game.

2. How will St. John Bosco stop J.J. Taylor?

The Huskies haven't had to give the ball to Taylor too much during the regular season. As a result, his rushing totals aren't among the state leaders. However, he does get the ball into the end zone, which he has done 39 times this season with a total of 252 points.

Taylor has picked things up in the postseason. In a 70-29 win over Chaminade, he posted seven touchdowns. In last week's 42-36 semifinal win over Mater Dei, he rushed for a season-high 219 yards.

For the year, Taylor has gained 1,719 yards on just 181 carries for nearly 10 yards per attempt.

Orange Lutheran probably did the best job of containing Taylor as it limited him to 137 yards on 27 carries for just 5.1 yards per attempt. Taylor did score three touchdowns in the game, however, and led Centennial to a 31-12 victory.

St. John Bosco plays the run well, however, and will likely be the toughest defense Centennial has faced all season. For the seven opponents that submitted stats to MaxPreps, St. John Bosco held opponents to an average of 105 rushing yards per game. That includes -31 yards rushing allowed against Santa Margarita.

3. Will this be the first high school game with both teams scoring triple digits?

The only thing that has kept Centennial or St. John Bosco from scoring 100 points in a game this season is the clock. Both teams have had running clocks in the second half on a regular basis as St. John Bosco has won by an average margin of victory of 48 points and Centennial's margin has been 39.

In order to hit triple digits, a team has to stay away from a running clock. That's what happened in Pennsylvania this year when DuBois and Meadville met, with Meadville winning 107-90. The 90 points is believed to be the most points ever scored by a losing team in a high school football game.

Could Centennial and St. John Bosco become the first two teams to each hit triple digits in a game? Possibly. Centennial averages 515 yards per game while St. John Bosco averages 554. St. John Bosco has scored 70 points in game three times this year while Centennial has done it twice.

4. Is this game the de facto state/national championship?

If the matchup between Centennial and St. John Bosco isn't a battle for the state and national championship, it's only because of timing. A championship game usually comes at the end of the season, but the winner of Saturday's game will play at least one more time, most likely against De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).

So why isn't the CIF Open Division Championship Game considered the state championship game? Technically it is, however there doesn't seem to be any denying that Centennial and St. John Bosco are the top two teams in the nation. Should De La Salle reach the Open Division championship game (a good bet considering it has won 24 straight North Coast Section championships), then it would take one loss into the game. Also, both Centennial and St. John Bosco have defeated De La Salle in the state championship game in the past.

At the national level, No. 1 has met No. 2 several times over the years, but those games have usually come at the beginning of the year when much was unknown about the two competitors. Both Centennial and St. John Bosco have a full body of work proving their worth as the top two teams in the nation.

St. John Bosco has defeated eight teams ranked among the top 500 in the country by the MaxPreps Computer Rankings. Centennial has defeated seven.

5. Who is the "X" Factor for each team?

Quentin Davis has been the offensive standout for St. John Bosco, but running back Sean McGrew gives the Braves a potent second option. One of the fastest players in the country, McGrew has rushed for 1,668 yards and scored 27 touchdowns. He ranks as the No. 4 leading rusher in the Pac-5 Division and the No. 5 scorer.

For Centennial, Javon McKinley could be the gamebreaker for the Huskies opposite of Taylor. After catching 91 passes for 1,906 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior, McKinley has been limited to 46 catches for 1,013 yards and 11 touchdowns, perhaps due to Centennial's penchant for grabbing big early leads. Nevertheless, McKinley is one of the most explosive receivers in the country and could provide the big play the Huskies need to win the Game of the Century.