Examining Why St. John Bosco's National Title Hopes Aren't Gone After Bishop Gorman Loss

The fallout from St. John Bosco's 38-28 loss to Bishop Gorman last Friday in high school football's pseudo-national title eliminator will be felt throughout the entire season.

But all hope is not lost for the Braves in the race for No. 1, according to head coach Jason Negro, who despite the defeat feels his team's goals are still very much attainable with only 10 percent of the regular season gone.

"I don't think so," Negro said. "But we're certainly not going to talk about where we're currently ranked. I don't think that matters now. But as I've said before, the story of this season isn't going to be written until December."

Aram gives Bishop Gorman's win over St. John Bosco a simple and obvious psychiatric diagnonis 👁️👇 pic.twitter.com/9wgdty0VYI
— Aram Tolegian 🇺🇸 🇦🇲 (@ChemicalAT) August 24, 2026

Forget championship aspirations of any kind, the Braves simply need a win. St. John Bosco has lost three straight games dating back to last season. It's a difficult fact to process considering how dominant the program has been over the past decade.

The next opportunity to end the skid comes this Friday when Roman Catholic of Philadelphia comes to town for another big nonleague opportunity. There is no margin of error left for the Braves, however, likely for the remainder of the season.

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

In reality, unless Bishop Gorman loses at least once the rest of the way, Bosco can probably forget about claiming a national championship this season. A state championship seems like a more practical goal given all the sentiment ground the Braves have to make up over the next few months.

Unlike Gorman, however, there is plenty of runway left for Negro's team and that comes directly from the company they keep. A Trinity League championship certainly puts the Braves back in the national picture. After that, the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs hold significant weight, especially when a championship there likely means beating a Trinity League foe for perhaps a second time while also toppling other Southern California powers like Corona Centennial and Sierra Canyon.

For Bishop Gorman, the back-half of the schedule is against fellow Nevada opponents that the Gaels will be heavily favored to win easily against. It also remains unclear what sort of postseason the school will participate in beyond the state playoffs, which no longer include 30 Las Vegas area public schools. Meanwhile, St. John Bosco will be playing the likes of Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita while hopefully regaining street cred.

"Right now, I just want to win a game," Negro said. "We've got to get back to fundamentals now. I think we sometimes put too much hype on things we can't control. And that's probably on me to make sure I get my team to focus on what we can control."

NO REGRETS

The downside of playing such a big game early in the season as St. John Bosco did is that a loss means you're playing catchup all season in the court of public opinion. Win, and you write your own destiny. Lose, and people can't scrub the moment from their memory very easily. Still, though, Negro said he'd gladly do it over.again.

"It was two really good football teams that went out there and battled," he said. "I still embrace the opportunity. It was a lot of fun despite the results. I said before the game, "I thought it was a coin flip game and with six minutes to go it was."

St. John Bosco fell behind 21-0 in the first half, but came out a different team after halftime, eventually tying the game at 28-28 before Bishop Gorman scored the final 10 points. The deficit was simply too much to overcome despite an inspired try.

"We didn't anticipate that kind of start," Negro said. "There's really no way to pinpoint the true reason behind it. That was the most disappointing part. Bishop Gorman did a really good job with their game plan. We exerted so much energy that we just didn't have enough to finish."

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