Mythical crown, friendship on line when Bishop Gorman, St. John Bosco tangle

LAS VEGAS — Doing their best Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed imitation, Tony Sanchez and Jason Negro made a gentleman's agreement over the summer.

"Ain't gonna be no rematch," Sanchez quipped.

Said Negro: "Don't want none."

The head coaches of two of the best high school football teams in the country — ESPN/USA Today have them ranked 1 and 2 — put their close friendship on the line at 6 p.m. Pacific Time Friday when five-time defending Nevada champion Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) hosts defending California Open Division Bowl champ St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).

The MaxPreps Computer Rankings have Bishop Gorman (5-0) No. 1 and St. John Bosco (3-0) No. 3. Our Xcellent 25 Rankings — selected by MaxPreps Football Editor Stephen Spiewak — ranks St. John Bosco No. 4 and Gorman No. 5, and the MaxPreps Composite Rankings — which include all the major rankings outlets — put St. John Bosco No. 3 and Gorman No. 4.

See video highlights of the big-name players in this week's big game

Clearly, whoever wins Friday will have an inside track toward a mythical national championship.

"It would be nice to end up No. 1, but we really can't focus too much on it," Sanchez said. "Even if we win, and go on to win the rest of our games, nothing is guaranteed. We started the season No. 1 (by ESPN/USA Today) and we're 5-0, have beaten two Top 25 teams, won four straight against Top 50 teams and we somehow get passed? Nothing is guaranteed. All you can control is winning week-by-week."

Negro sees the ranking game similarly.

"It's no different than college, but high school is completely mythical," he said.

Last season, his team went 16-0 and won the Trinity League,considered the toughest league in the nation. The Braves then captured the Southern Section's Pac 5 Division, considered the country's best playoff division.

Bosco beat De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), considered the best program in the country, in the CIF State Open Division Bowl. St. John Bosco was picked the mythical national champion by the MaxPreps Computer Rankings.

"The more and more we play these national match-ups, the closer and closer we'll come to naming a truer national champion," Negro said. "That's a big reason why we're playing this week."

Paragon Marketing Group actually set it up in conjunction with ESPNU, which is televising the game. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Paragon has formulated a plan in the spirit of basketball's National High School Invitational, a potential three-game event to take place in Florida. One of the nationally ranked teams from Florida would put them up against a top national program and serve as a de facto national title match-up in 2014.

Sanchez's reaction to a possible extra game was sort of a snicker: "I have no comment on that right now. We just have to focus on St. John Bosco, which is plenty to focus on."

Friday's game puts Sanchez and Negro in slightly awkward spots, considering they've struck up such a good relationship over the last two years.

They met at coaches clinics two years ago and each were speakers at a UCLA camp last year. When Sanchez was selected as the West head coach at the U.S. Army All-American Game, one of his first people he called to assist — other than his brother and Gorman defensive coordinator Kenny Sanchez — was Negro.

"He's a great guy and a great coach," Sanchez said of Negro. "Coaching in a game of this magnitude against your friends is tough. But no doubt we'll still be good friends after, win, lose or draw."

Said Negro: "There's a lot of mutual respect between us and the programs. He's just a really good guy and he leads a great program. It will be fun to be able to compete against him and them."

The two share more than respect.

Both are in the prime of their coaching lives and both turned promising programs into national juggernauts. Both accomplished it with a clear vision to elevate their programs to this level and both came from California public school programs.

Negro, 41, arrived from Trabuco Hills (Mission Viejo, Calif.) in 2010 and with a mountain of competition, took three years to truly emerge. He's gone 40-14 and the Braves are riding a 19-game win streak. Last year's team is considered one of the best to ever come out of the Southern Section, which, considering the history, density and talent base, is a mouthful.

Sanchez, 40, arrived from California (San Ramon, Calif.) in 2009 and immediately lifted the Gaels to national prominence, going 75-5 with five straight state titles. The list of college standouts from the school is overflowing and includes Duke running back Shaquille Powell and Notre Dame lineman Ronnie Stanley.

Both coaches are extremely personable, utterly accessible to the press and fearless. They have definitely taken on all comers throughout the country.

Since Sanchez has taken over, Gorman has played, among others, Florida powers Booker T. Washington (Miami) (the MaxPreps 2013 national champions and Armwood (Seffner), New Jersey juggernaut Bergen Catholic (Oradell) twice, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), Arizona powers Hamilton (Chandler) and Mountain Pointe (Phoenix), Maryland's Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney), Utah's Dixie (St. George) and Bingham (South Jordan), Hawaii's St. Louis (Honolulu), and Southern California powers Centennial (Corona), Servite (Anaheim), Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita), Crespi (Encino) and now St. John Bosco.

Of course, the Braves play most of Southern California's best throughout the season, but on top of that this year they traveled to St. Louis (Honolulu) and hosted Oregon power Central Catholic (Portland). Among other out-of-state squads they've faced since Negro arrived are Chandler (Ariz.) and Jordan (Sandy, Utah). Next season, they'll travel to Don Bosco Prep, a two-time previous mythical national champ which is currently No. 1 in the Excellent 25.

Quick Q&A with the respective coaches

Jason Negro, St. John Bosco

Mitch Stephens: What's your plan coming into Las Vegas? Flying? Driving? Thursday? Friday?
Jason Negro: We're going to leave by bus Thursday morning around 6 a.m. and have a walk-through practice at Gorman. We want to get acclimated to the weather and surroundings and get a good night's sleep.

MS: Going to do anything for fun?
JN: We have reservations for the Blue Man Group show at the Monte Carlo. We're going as a team. We're excited to see a live performance. Maybe it will inspire us.

MS: The Blue Man Group? A kid show?
JN: We've heard ‘Teen appropriate.' It should be fun.

MS: You know Tony very well, but how prepared is your team for this game? Surely you couldn't look past your first three opponents, but you must have had an eyeball on this game.
JN: We had a bye last week and the coaches came out to watch them play Santa Margarita. Besides that we have quite a bit of footage of them the last five weeks and have broken down what they are doing. This should be a playoff type atmosphere, so we're looking forward to that. We've tried to emulate what they do as best we can. I'm pleased with our preparation.

MS: What are you most pleased with thus far with your squad? You lost a lot of very talented seniors from last year and only returned seven starters, two on defense.
JN: We feel very blessed to be 3-0 because we haven't played quite the type of football we're capable of yet. We're so young in so many areas. I think we've implemented our offense pretty well. Our young guys are meshing well with our seniors. The chemistry is coming.

MS: With so many new starters on defense, how have they adjusted? Do you change what you do based on your talent or do the players adjust?
JN: Our base defense and philosophy is still the same. We have different areas of talent this year. We put in kids to be successful. It's our job to adjust.

MS: Do you like traveling with the team? Is it a burden you'd rather not deal with?
JN: I actually really enjoy it. There's financial ramifications and fundraising I don't really enjoy. We're not like a baseball or basketball team taking 20 to 30 guys somewhere. We have 105 people traveling, so it's difficult. At the same time, it prepares them for the next level. This sort of matches what they'll do in college. They need to know how to act, enjoy themselves, but be responsible to their teammates and the school.

MS: How do you like the mythical national picture with rankings for high school? Do you pay much attention to it? Did you think you should have been national champions last year?
JN: I think, playing in our league, and definitely going through that and the Pac 5 undefeated, definitely elevated our level of play. When I got here, yes, I wanted us to be on the national scene. Once we got there, now it's our responsibility to do something with it. Ultimately you just have to win games, the big ones and the ones you're supposed to. 

MS: What are some of the keys for your team specifically against Gorman?
JN: First, we have to prevent a quick start by them. We don't want to fall behind and play catch-up all day. Besides stopping their big plays and not turning the ball over, we have to capitalize on our opportunities. We haven't done that real well yet.

MS: Gorman's starting quarterback Tate Martell is a Southern California kid. Did you know much about him before watching him play here?
JN: He had college offers in the eighth grade, so yes, we've known about him for a long time. He's a California kid. We got to see him live in their system and wow, he's very impressive. Very explosive. He's a big reason why they average like seven to nine explosive plays of 20 yards or longer per game. He's very explosive and his team is very explosive. We definitely need to keep those to a minimum.

MS: How about your quarterback Josh Rosen, everyone's All-American? How's he handled all the attention?
JN: He's handled it great. As his senior year approached, his leadership abilities increased. He's a very mature kid. He's going to graduate early so his life will be changing very soon. His preparation has always set him apart. There are a lot of talented kids out there playing his position, but what separates him is all the time he puts in.

MS: It's nice to have an arm like him too, yes?
JN: He can make all the throws. He can put it on a line, use great touch, and he can move around and get the ball way downfield. And he's super accurate. He obviously does a lot of things for us.

Tony Sanchez, Bishop Gorman

Mitch Stephens: Coach, you talked before the season about this crazy six-week stretch, capped off with this game with St. John Bosco. How have you got through it without a loss? There were a couple close calls, but you found a way.

Tony Sanchez: It's a really good collection of kids. I've been saying it all year and it's turned out to be very important. There are no huge egos, but at the same time none of them are scared to make the big play. All of them are accountable for the team. We're experienced, so these guys have been in big games before. They've done a good job of continuing to fight and persevere.

MS: What makes St. John Bosco so strong? What do you need to do to be successful against them?
TS: They have a lot of great players. Rosen is amazing, as is Sean Mcgrew. What they do offensively is dynamic. They have a lot of great athletes on defense, especially at linebacker. The good news for us is we've seen some teams with comparable personnel. (Rosen) is the third Top 10 quarterback we've seen this year. We've seen four Top 50 teams in the last four weeks, and this will be our third Top 25 team. I'm not sure anyone at the end of 15 weeks will be able to put up that kind of resume. And we've faced it in just over a month. We're certainly battle-tested.

MS: What have you been most happy with the first five weeks?
TS: I think, considering the schedule we've played, the fact that thus far we have more than 1,000 yards passing and 1,300 yards rushing. We're at about 465 yards a game against some very good defenses. That's pretty impressive.

MS: And the defense?
TS: Centennial (Corona) put up more than 40 points and almost 500 yards, but it was our first time we've seen that fast-paced offense they do so well. They do that to everyone. I think we were a little tired also. But other than that game, I think we've done a very good job defensively. Some guys have really stepped up and made plays when we needed most.

MS: Do you guys have enough in the tank to play with these guys?
TS: We're definitely coming in at polar opposites. They've had a week off last week and played just three games to our five. This will be our sixth game in six weeks. This is a close, special group. We'll definitely be ready to go.