No. 12 St. John's College vs. No. 7 St. John Bosco

No. 7 St. John Bosco vs. No. 12 St. John's Is A Saturday-Worthy Matchup

Seventh-ranked St. John Bosco (CA) travels cross country for a top 25 clash against No. 12 St. John's (DC) on Saturday, live on FloFootball.

Sep 20, 2017 by Kolby Paxton

No. 7 St. John Bosco vs. No. 12 St. John's Is A Saturday-Worthy Matchup

What's that you say? Saturdays are for college football? Fair enough. But, consider this: The only top 25 FBS game that shares a time slot with No. 7 St. John Bosco (CA) and No. 12 St. John's (DC) is No. 13 Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion. And while you should keep an eye on the Monarchs (+28) and Hokies, Blacksburg, VA, is not the place to find the highest concentration of elite football players on Saturday afternoon.

In fact, if you added up every single ESPN 300 recruit from the past two years on every college team playing in the 2 PM (ET) time slot, you'd be two players shy of what St. John Bosco, alone, will field when it exits the locker room in Washington, DC -- 6-4, Braves win.

Not included in that total: SJB quarterback and Iowa State commit Re-Al Mitchell, St. John's quarterback Kevin Doyle, and future VT defensive tackle Cam Goode, among others.

In other words, we feel you. Saturdays are for the boys -- er, um, college football. But, with respect to Idaho and South Alabama, the college-est game kicking off at 2 o'clock on the East Coast is this one.

No. 7 St. John Bosco (CA) vs. No. 12 St. John's (DC)
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, at 2 PM (ET)
Where: St. John's College High School, Washington, DC
Broadcast: FloFootball

What you need to know about St. John Bosco:

What's left to say about St. John Bosco? The Braves have made four straight California state title game appearances while emerging as a perennial nationally ranked household name. Head coach Jason Negro inherited a relatively pedestrian program that went just 32-29 in the six years preceding his arrival and turned it into a world-beater. Since 2013, St. John Bosco is 57-6 and has delivered blue-chip prospects such as UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen and Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis -- the top-ranked interior lineman of the 2017 class.

What you need to know about St. John's:

St. John's doesn't get overshadowed by its opponent much, but the Cadets aren't afraid of a challenge. Head coach Joe Casamento loaded the schedule for a season in which he has arguably his most talented team. The Cadets were set to open their season with Jones (FL), De LaSalle (CA), St. Joseph Regional (NJ), IMG Academy (FL), and St. John Bosco (CA), before Hurricane Irma derailed the IMG game. Still, St. John's will have played four top 150 teams -- including two in the top 25 -- before the end of September.

Offense

St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) confounded the St. John Bosco offense in a 9-3 season-opening loss for the Braves -- but the floodgates have been wide open ever since. Re-Al Mitchell, one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks, leads an offense that has averaged 54 points per game over its past three outings. Mitchell and Arizona State commit Demetrious Flowers have combined for 343 rushing yards. Junior Josh Delgado paces the receiving core with 13 catches, 221 yards, and two scores.

The St. John's offense has been strong all season long, scoring no fewer than 31 points in any of its first three contests. The unit is led by three-star quarterback Kevin Doyle -- a pocket passer whose offer count is up to 34 -- and running back Keilan Robinson, who olds offers from Penn State and Maryland, among others. Robinson rushed for 142 yards on just 13 carries in the Cadets' 42-25 victory over St. Joseph Regional two weeks ago.

Advantage: St. John Bosco

Defense

Prospects on prospects. The St. John Bosco defense is as strong a high school unit as you'll find on paper. Safety Jaiden Woodbey, an Ohio State commit, headlines the group. Woodbey is the third-ranked safety in the 2018 class -- and he looks the part. Joining Woodbey, the Braves deploy a handful of the top junior defenders in the country, including defensive tackle Sua'ava Poti, linebacker Ralen Goforth, and cornerback Chris Steele. The 6-foot-1 Steele is currently the second-ranked cornerback for the 2019 class with an offer list that looks more like the Associated Press Top 25.

Defensive tackle Cam Goode and cornerback DJ Brown lead a bend-but-don't-break St. John's defense that has worked in concert with the Cadets offense. Goode, a Virginia Tech commit, is a dominant force on the interior of the defensive line who has the ability to disrupt both the run and pass game of his opponents. Brown is a Virginia pledge with outstanding size (6-foot-1, 178 pounds) and fluidity -- a combination of physical strengths that allows him, in most cases, to neutralize otherwise effective receivers.

Advantage: St. John Bosco

Intangibles

St. John Bosco is making its second cross-country trek in five weeks -- and kicking off at what will feel like 11 AM on a Saturday. Even for a program that takes pride in its "anyone, anywhere, anytime" approach, that's no small ask.

If for no other reason than the fact that St. John's is at home, in its routine, with an advantageous biological clock situation, the intangible benefit -- if there is one in a game like this -- would seem to lean in the direction of the Cadets.

Advantage: St. John's

How to Watch St. John's College vs. St. John Bosco

On TV: Available on Roku and Apple TV 4 -- download the FloSports app now.
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