Final MaxPreps California Top 25 high school football rankings: St. John Bosco finishes No. 1 after title win over No. 3 De La Salle

Video: St. John Bosco finishes off De La Salle

Game highlights of Bosco's 49-28 victory to clinch state and national crown.

The St. John Bosco football coach had just watched his team complete the journey on Saturday, a 49-28 CIF Open Division Bowl championship win at Cerritos in Norwalk as Clemson-bound DJ Uiagalelei completed an illustrious career with a landmark performance.

It was Bosco's third state Open Division title since 2013, all against De La Salle, two weeks after pulling off his team's signature win, a 39-34 win over arch Southern California rival Mater Dei (Santa Ana), fighting back from a 28-5 deficit to beat the then-No. 1 team in the country.

The Braves took over that honor after beating the Monarchs, but it would largely mean nothing unless they defeated the pesky Spartans, no slouch themselves, the No. 3 ranked state team and No. 8 in the nation.

But after it was finally all over, after every team and individual championship photo was shot, Negro took a big breath and reflected it all. Winning a state crown at the highest division in California is a monumental effort.

"To have to go through and beat Calabasas and Centennial-Corona and Mater Dei and then De La Salle," he said shaking his head. "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."

The last three teams he mentioned finished Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the MaxPreps final California rankings.

The final week of play saw seven ranked teams play and the biggest climber was Pacifica (Oxnard), which outgained three-time defending state champion McClymonds 411-112 en route to a dominating 34-6 Division 2-A title win, also at Cerritos College.

The Tritons (15-1) made the biggest jump from No. 18 to No. 12 with the win.

Previous No. 9 Central (Fresno) changed placed with previous No. 7 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) after an impressive 34-19 win over the Trailblazers in the Division 1-AA finals.

Sixth-ranked Corona del Mar held strong by completing a perfect 16-0 season with a hard-fought 35-27 win over an inspired Serra (San Mateo) squad, which actually moved up a spot to No. 10 with a spirited effort against the Sea Kings.

Corona del Mar received its own signature quarterback moment from Washington-bound Ethan Garbers, who accounted for 397 yards and all five touchdowns. He became the second quarterback in state history — Folsom's Jake Browning was the other — to throw for more than 70 touchdowns in a season. Final 2019 Top 25 California high school football rankings