Louis Raines of St. Xavier can only watch the ball as it pops out of his grasp. St. John Bosco recovered the fumble and went on to score on the drive. (Photo: Brandon C. Severn, The Enquirer)
CINCINNATI — St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) – the No. 19 team in the Super 25 – blitzed St. Xavier (Cincinnati) 34-0 on Saturday night in a Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown game that was nationally televised on ESPNU as part of the GEICO ESPN High School Kickoff.
Things started poorly and didn’t get much better for St. X, which hadn’t lost a season opener since 2010 to Good Counsel (Md.).
After a St. X fumble in the red zone, St. John Bosco junior quarterback Re-al Mitchell showed a bit of his breakaway speed with a 98-yard touchdown run on Bosco’s second play from scrimmage of the season.
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On the next series, Mitchell went to the air and hit Berkeley Holman for a 69-yard score.
“We flew 2,100 miles to play in the heat and humidity after a long delay, so I’m proud of our performance and how keyed in our team was,” Bosco coach Jason Negro said.
The Bombers missed three field goals and committed two turnovers in the first half and the Braves took a 24-0 lead into the break.
“It’s never as bad as you think it is and it’s never as good as you think it is,” said St. Xavier coach Steve Spech. “So I’m gonna bank on it’s not as bad as I think it is, cause right now I think it’s pretty bad.
“It’s a learning experience because that’s a great team. If we got beat 34-0 by a team that wasn’t very good that’s one thing, but we got beat by a team that’s arguably ranked high in the country. We’re inexperienced; we’re not very good right now but we’re gonna get better.”
With its first possession of the second half, Mitchell went back to Holman for a 53-yard touchdown connection that put St. John Bosco ahead 31-0, giving the Braves a running clock for the remainder of the night.
Mitchell rushed for 121 yards and was 10 of 19 passing for 204 yards.
St. Xavier senior quarterback Sean Clifford, a Penn State commit, tried to play through a foot injury, but junior Chase Wolf replaced him in the second half.
The Bombers managed just 148 total yards, while the Braves posted 492.
