BELLFLOWER, California, Nov. 14 — California is used to being rattled by earthquakes, but Friday night's temblor on a football field in Southern California could be felt all across the nation from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
No, it wasn't an earthquake. But the unranked Orange [CA] Lutheran Lancers' 20-19 win over the No. 3/SN No. 3 St. John Bosco [Bellflower, CA] Braves shook up the national high school football landscape, and it's likely that many fans of the No. 2/SN No. 2 Grayson [Loganville, GA] Rams and the Buford [GA] Wolves in the Atlanta metro area probably don't even know about it yet. The game wrapped up well after midnight on the East Coast, but those two schools are on a potential crash course to meet in Georgia's GHSA Class 6A championship game in December. And that game very well could decide the national championship with most of California's big powers out of the way.
And who outside of Orange, California, thought the Lancers had a chance anyway? They lost to the Braves, 48-0, barely a month ago on October 10 in a regular-season contest that only the most diehard Lancer fans could have thought was reversible. But the most important group to believe in them was the Lancers themselves, and you could tell from the start that this bunch was determined to write a different ending to their 2025 story.
Just three games ago, the Lancers were 4-4 when they self-reported violations centered around a player's residency status and were forced to forfeit two of their wins in which that player played. That included their best win of the season in the opener at a Northwestern [Miami, FL] Bulls' squad that is currently 10-0. Suddenly, sitting at 2-6 in the standings, the Lancers dropped their final two regular-season contests to finish 2-8.
But their punishment didn't include any postseason sanctions, and so the Lancers spent last week preparing for a first-round playoff game against the Braves, who were still solidly in the national championship picture. Trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, the Lancers' defense continued to battle until the offense finally broke through with a touchdown to even the score at 7-all with just 35 seconds remaining in the first half.
St. John Bosco eventually regained the lead, 13-7, in the third quarter, but after missing the PAT, an energized Lancers' squad surged into the lead, 14-13, with a score of their own in the fourth quarter. You could feel a momentum shift at that point, and an errant throw moments later by the Braves ended up in a pick-six, and suddenly, Orange Lutheran was up 20-13 after missing a PAT of their own.
The final minutes of the game were frantic as Orange Lutheran forced St. John to Bosco to punt with less than four minutes remaining and only one timeout in their pocket. The punt was a beauty – a 56-yarder that rolled inside the Lancers' 5-yard line, and after a quick three and out, they were forced to punt from their own end zone. The kick was partially blocked, and St. John Bosco took over on Orange Lutheran's 13-yard line with plenty of time to score.
And they did on the very next play as star receiver Madden Williams latched onto a pass to pull the Braves within one. Unbelievably, the Braves then missed their second extra point of the game, and Orange Lutheran followed up by recovering a wild onside kick to seal the deal.
Orange Lutheran now moves on to play the No. 17 Santa Margarita [Rancho Santa Margarita, CA] Eagles, who pulled an upset of their own in a 21-9 win over the No. 10/SN No. 11 Sierra Canyon [Chatsworth, CA] Trailblazers. The winner of that will then face the winner of the No. 6/SN No. 9 Mater Dei [Santa Ana, CA] Monarchs and the No. 7/SN No. 5 Centennial [Corona, CA] Huskies in California's CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game.
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FINAL — Orange Lutheran 20, St. John Bosco 19
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|| FOURTH QUARTER ||
Orange Lutheran forces a punt with under four minutes to play. It's a great punt that rolls inside Lutheran's 5 yard line, but Bosco only has one timeout left.
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This game gets more shocking by the moment. Bosco throws a pick six, and Orange Lutheran now leads by seven after the PAT was blocked. They've both missed an extra point in this game so we're even in that category.
4TH QTR — Orange Lutheran 20, St. John Bosco 13
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And Orange Lutheran now leads in a game that is turning into a stunner.
4TH QTR — Orange Lutheran 14, St. John Bosco 13
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|| THIRD QUARTER ||
And three quarters are in the books.
END OF 3RD QTR — St. John Bosco 13, Orange Lutheran 7
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St. John Bosco scores to regain the lead, but they shanked the PAT.
3RD QTR — St. John Bosco 13, Orange Lutheran 7
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And the third quarter is under way.
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|| SECOND QUARTER ||
A steady rain falling at halftime in Bellflower. If you're Orange Lutheran, you probably want this. Anything to slow Bosco's big guns down.
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And we head to the half all tied up.
HALFTIME — Orange Lutheran 7, St. John Bosco 7
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Orange Lutheran scores with 35 seconds to play in the first half, and we've got a bit of a surprise in Bellflower.
2ND QTR — Orange Lutheran 7, St. John Bosco 7
|| FIRST QUARTER ||
END OF 1ST QTR — St. John Bosco 7, Orange Lutheran 0
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Bosco finally drives it in for the game's opening score. It's 7-0, St. John Bosco.
1ST QTR — St. John Bosco 7, Orange Lutheran 0
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They're under way in Bellflower!
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Coming soon!
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