St. John Bosco Too Tricky

After struggling offensively for most of the second half, Bellflower St. John Bosco called on a trick play to break open a tie game with Sante Fe Springs St. Paul on Friday night at St. John Bosco.

On their first play after a fumble recovery by Daniel Jocson at the St. Paul 33-yard line, the Braves’ Jamaul Montgomery caught a lateral pass from quarterback Joe Cordova and then completed a touchdown pass to a wide-open Andrew Hill for the winning score in a 31-21 victory over the Swordsmen.

“In the huddle we were all confident that the play would work,” said Hill, a senior wide receiver. “We worked on the play in practice, but it felt really good for it to be the winning touchdown.”

St. John Bosco, The Times’ eighth-ranked team, is 7-0-1 overall and 3-0 in the Del Rey League. St. Paul dropped to 5-3 and 1-2.

“Each week becomes bigger and bigger for us, while our opponents get tougher and tougher,” said St. John Bosco Coach Jerry Person, whose team finishes the season against Del Rey League rivals La Puente Bishop Amat and Loyola. “We want to peak when we get into the playoffs.”

Al Berganza got St. Paul off to a good start when he returned the opening kickoff 48 yards to set up the Swordsmen’s first scoring opportunity. Chris Willis capped St. Paul’s six-play, 48-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Bustamante.

St. John Bosco, which has made the playoffs the last two seasons, answered with a 17-play, 80-yard march to tie the score, 7-7. Cordova, who ran for a key first down on a fake field goal attempt in the drive, passed four yards to Irvin Picott for the score.

The Swordsmen, who have missed the playoffs the last two seasons, needed only four plays to take the lead again. Highlighted by a 41-yard pass from Willis to Bustamante, St. Paul drove 65 yards and led, 14-7, on a two-yard run by Saul Frausto.

The Braves made a key defensive stop in the second quarter when Mike Moniz and John Moeller sacked Willis to force a St. Paul punt. St. John Bosco then took its first lead, 21-14, on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Cordova to Shane Mintonwith, less than a minute before halftime.