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History repeats: Slow starts costs St. John Bosco in disappointing, but gallant opening defeat to Bishop Gorman

Braves fight back from huge hole like 2014, but this time they're done in by a former teammate in tough defeat in Las Vegas
Mitch Stephens|
St. John Bosco (white) shakes hands with Bishop Gorman after a gallant second-half effort falls short during a 38-28 loss Aug 21 in Las Vegas.
St. John Bosco (white) shakes hands with Bishop Gorman after a gallant second-half effort falls short during a 38-28 loss Aug 21 in Las Vegas. | Photo by Mitch Stephens

The script was 12-years-old, but it had a very similar start and end for the St. John Bosco football program.

The Braves overcame a nightmarish first half, showed remarkable resilience to tie the game before dropping a very tough season-opening game Friday night in Las Vegas 38-28 to Nevada juggernaut Bishop Gorman.

The Braves, a three-time national champion, fought back gallantly from a 21-0 defict to actually tie the game early in the fourth quarter 28 on spectacular 46-yard touchdown punt return by DJ Tubbs.

But of all players, Corey Hinton, who transferred from St. John Bosco after last season, hauled in a medium range third-down pass from Ace Amina, juked one defender and sprinted home on a 54-yard touchdown with 6:49 remaining for the go-ahead score.

It was Amina's fourth touchdown pass of the game.

A 49-yard field goal with 2:09 left by Maximiliano Fuentes clinched it for Gorman, which beat St. John Bosco for the third straight time in the series.

The last time the teams played in Las Vegas in 2014, St. John Bosco fell behind 27-3 in the third quarter, only to come storming back behind the play of future NFL quarterback Josh Rosen. The Braves lost that game 34-31 as Rosen threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns and he rushed seven times for 61 more yards.

But it wasn't quite enough.

14:08 TO BUILD ON

The Braves, who were ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps heading in (Gorman was No. 2) and No. 4 in the High School On SI Preseason Power 25 (Gorman was No. 7), didn't have quite enough Friday either, but the comeback was more than noteworthy and surely something to build on.

They overcame the triple-degree temperatures and a nightmarish beginning which featured a botched snap on their first play from scrimmage and two plays later a sack, a fumble and recovered fumble in the end zone by Gorman's Caleb Lea'Ea. Just like that the Braves were down 14-0.

It was 21-0 at halftime and Bosco had as many turnovers as first downs (three).

HALFTIME TALK

Remarkably, whatever coach Jason Negro and his staff said at halftime worked. The Braves looked like a completely different squad in the second half against the four-time national champions.

"It was almost like the moment was too big," Negro told Los Angeles Times reporter Eric Sondheimer after the game. "We showed a lot of resolve, a lot of fight."

Junior quarterback and third-year starter Koa Malau'ulu was terrific, threading the needle on several passes including touchdowns to sophomore Kuika Moaalii (10 yards on fourth down) and Tubbs (21 yards), to cut the lead to 21-14 with 4:51 left in the third.

After a blown coverage and a 53-yard TD pass from Amina to an absolutely stripped Zyren Menor looked to give Gorman back all the momentum, the Braves showed more resillience, especially speedy back Maliq Allen, who sprinted 30 yards for a score on a terrific play call on the final play of the spirited third quarter.

That gave Bosco all the momentum, heading into the fourth quarter, trailing just 28-21.

TUBBS TIMES TWO

When Dillon Davis delivered Bosco's first sack of the game, forcing Gorman to punt, everything pointed Bosco's way.

And when Tubbs, a nifty 5-10, 180-pound junior wideout, took the ensuing punt 46 yards down his own sideline for a spectacular touchdown, the Braves had remarkably tied it at 28-28 with 9:52 left in the fourth.

What a 14:08 performance by the Braves.

But perhaps it just took too much out of them to catch up.

RELUCTANT TRANSFER DOES IN BRAVES

A third-down St. John Bosco penalty on Gorman's next possession didn't help. It actually led directly to the Gaels go ahead score. And by some cruel twist it was scored by a former Brave.

Hinton, a 5-11, 190-pound junior, had two very promising seasons at Bosco, last year at the Braves' second leading rusher with 410 yards and six touchdowns. He also had 11 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown in 2025.

But on Friday, he did in his former teammates with the play of a game full of big ones, hauling in a medium spiral by Amina at the SJB 45, juking safety DJ Lacy before sprinting down the Braves' sideline untouched with his 54-yard game-winner with 6:49 left. Hinton reportedly grew up in Las Vegas and he told Sondheimer he wanted to stay at Bosco and play football. "It looks like God did this," he told Sondheimer. "It was surreal. It was something I prayed for and it meant everything."

After the game, he was seen embracing many of his former teammates.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY

St. John Bosco has no time to sulk with more of its national schedule on the horizon.

The Braves host Philadelphia power Roman Catholic next week, before a trip to Northern California juggernaut Pittsburg, before back-to-back games with Hawaii's top programs, Kahuku and St. Louis.

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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