Sports

Koa Malau'ulu throws four touchdown passes in St. John Bosco's defeat of Santa Margarita

Koa Malau'ulu, the sophomore quarterback for unbeaten St. John Bosco High, was having almost as good a Friday night as Shohei Ohtani hitting three home runs at Dodger Stadium. Malau'ulu completed his first 11 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns against a Santa Margarita defense that held Mater Dei to six points last week.

This was supposed to be a showdown for first place in the nation's toughest football league, the Trinity League, but Santa Margarita didn't have the offensive firepower to stay with the Braves, whose quarterback, all-star receivers and underrated offensive line executed to deliver an eighth consecutive victory with a 27-14 triumph over the Eagles.

Malau'ulu finished 16-of-21 passing for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Each of his talented four-receiver group caught a touchdown pass.

"We have faith in him," said receiver Madden Williams, who caught six passes for 113 yards. "We all got some love. We have four great receivers and all got to eat."

It was a strange game from St. John Bosco's perspective. The Braves were called for 20 penalties, a record under coach Jason Negro. There were five defensive holding penalties.

"Does that count as two wins?" a frustrated defensive coordinator Chris King said.

Santa Margarita (5-3, 2-1) was called for three penalties.

"They didn't allow the penalties to define their night," Negro said.

St. John Bosco held a 21-7 halftime lead with Carson Clark, Daniel Odom and DJ Trubbs each catching touchdown passes. Santa Margarita's only score was a one-yard touchdown run by Trent Mosley set up by his spectacular 70-yard run in a wildcat formation. The Eagles' offense was missing injured receivers Grant Mosley and Luke Gazzaniga, which slowed their passing attack.

Santa Margarita started the third quarter with another Mosley touchdown, closing to 21-14, but Malau'ulu answered with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Williams. He was sacked twice on the night but his blockers gave him enough time to fire away, and his sure-handed receivers did the rest.

"He has a lot of talent around him," Negro said.

Dutch Horisk led St. John Bosco's defense with two sacks. Linebacker Matthew Muasau continues to be an exceptional tackler. Cornerback Jacob Whitehead made a couple plays in the second half to disrupt the Eagles' passing attack. Quarterback Trace Johnson was 12 of 28 passing for 87 yards.

If these two teams meet again in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, the Braves know that the USC-bound Mosley will present a challenge. He was injured in the Eagles' first game of the season, didn't play again until last week against Mater Dei and is rounding back intoshape. He is dangerous any time he touches the ball.

"He's a special player," Negro said.

St. John Bosco is 8-0 and 3-0 in the Trinity League. The Braves close the regular season with games against Servite next week and against Mater Dei on Halloween. They need two wins to clinch a No. 1 seed for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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