No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 4 St. John Bosco win in California high school football playoffs to set up epic rematch

So much for looking ahead. With a postseason rematch looming, No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and No. 4 St. John Bosco (Bellflower) were focused on Friday's opponents in the California Southern Section Division I high school football playoffs.

Mater Dei (12-0) shut out No. 24 Los Alamitos 52-0 while St. John Bosco (11-1) blasted No. 25 Mission Viejo 41-6.

The league rivals already met once this season back on Oct. 7 with Mater Dei toppling then-No. 1 Bosco 17-7 – the third straight win in the series for the Monarchs and eighth in 11 meetings since 2016.

Los Alamitos entered Friday's semifinal red hot, scoring 47 points or more in each of its last eight games led by star quarterback Malachi Nelson. The USC-bound signal caller was knocked out of the contest in the second quarter with an injury but things were already well in hand for the nation's No. 1 team.

Louisville commit Pierce Clarkson threw for three touchdowns and junior running back Cameron Jones added three scores of his own on the ground to power Bosco's dismantling of Mission Viejo.

Mater Dei-Bosco II for the Southern Section Division I crown will go down Friday, Nov. 25 at the Rose Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The two teams have a combined 74 players that are rated as a two-star recruit or higher by 247Sports or have landed at least one FBS offer.

Mater Dei heads to the Rose Bowl winners of 29 in a row and 83 of its last 86 games since 2016. The Monarchs (2017, 2021) and Braves (2019) have combined to claim three of the last five national titles.

If all that wasn't juicy enough, expect it to be a showdown between national No. 1 and 2 once again. No. 2 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) lost Friday night to No. 10 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) while No. 3 Central (Miami) had to wiggle to get past rival Northwestern (Miami) 34-30.