St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei: Jason Negro credits rivalry for rise to national prominence

"That's why we're here today, because of the league, the opponents and having a running mate like Mater Dei," Negro said.

No. 1-ranked Mater Dei will travel to St. John Bosco in a nationally-televised high school football showdown on Bally Sports Network at 7 p.m. Friday night in what is the epitome of a rivalry game at the highest level.

Not only does the matchup have Trinity League title implications, but for the last 10 years the game has placed the winner in the national championship conversation.

St. John Bosco was named the national champion (for a third time in program history) by multiple outlets in 2022 after beating Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final and going on to win the CIF State Open Division crown.

However, St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro believes the rise to national prominence might not have been possible without a "running mate" like Mater Dei. 

On the CIF Southern Section Sitdown — a new show powered by SBLive Sports — Negro talked about a conversation he had with former longtime Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson nearly 10 years ago.

"We had a stretch where we beat Mater Dei six straight times," Negro said. "Bruce (Rollinson) reached out to me and we had a long talk ... I told him, 'We can dominate this thing if you can get your program to believe we can play at a national level,' and that's when we started playing teams all over the country."

• Full episode of CIF Southern Section Sitdown with Jason Negro will be released on Oct. 19.

St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro with SBLive's Tarek Fattal on the CIF Southern Section Sitdown :: Taylor Martinez/CIF

Negro cited playing 26 national opponents since that conversation and going 23-3 in those games.

"Mater Dei has done the same thing," Negro said. "We've have played St. Frances, IMG Academy, Miami Central, St. Thomas Aquinas ... building a brand between our two programs where we can go out, schedule anybody in the country and beat them, it's going to put you somewhere near the top (of national rankings)."

Once again, the national stage will be set for the 42nd edition of the game, highlighted by a combined 70-plus players who have earned college scholarship offers.

Top 20 recruits in Mater Dei-St. John Bosco showdown

"I had a vision early on and I needed someone to run with us, and (Mater Dei) did. (Rollinson) was willing to do it and his program spiked ... it started to be detrimental to me and my success," Negro said with a grin. "But that's why we're here today, because of the league, the opponents and having a running mate like Mater Dei."

MATCHUP HISTORY

St. John Bosco beat the Monarchs six straight times from 2011 to 2015, including the 2013 Pac-5 CIF title game at Angel Stadium. Starting in 2016, Mater Dei started to tip the scale, winning eight of the next 11 games, including the 2022 regular-season matchup, edging St. John Bosco 17-7.

St. John Bosco avenged last year's regular-season loss, however, beating Mater Dei 24-22 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 25, 2022.

That puts the record between the two programs at 10-8 in favor of St. John Bosco since 2011. But Mater Dei owns the all-time series, 29-12, since the first game was played in 1966.

Mater Dei or St. John Bosco has played in every CIF Southern Section Division 1 (or Pac-5) final since 2012. The last final to not include the two teams was when Santa Margarita defeated San Clemente 27-13 in 2011.

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