PREP EXTRA / ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : St. John Bosco Shows Up Servite Everywhere but the Scoreboard

Something didn’t add up at all Friday night.

St. John Bosco racked up 24 first downs, held a huge advantage in total yards, committed one-tenth the penalties, held onto the ball most of the second half and still Servite knocked the Braves out of the unbeaten ranks with a 14-10 victory at St. John Bosco.

Servite (3-2), which never trailed, was whistled for 102 yards in penalties in the first half alone. But the Friars, on the strength of a 20-yard sweep around left end by running back Dan Rubalcava and a 51-yard pass from quarterback Greg Cicero to tight end Chris Bystedt, jumped out to a two-touchdown lead midway through the second quarter.

Perhaps it was superior signal calling in that first half that paid off. While St. John Bosco was busy running up and down the field almost at will between the 20-yard lines, Servite was more content to allow its defense, led by middle linebacker Matt Paul, to make the big stops.

The sweep around end by Rubalcava, coming on first down only five seconds into the second quarter, caught the Braves by surprise and the 6-foot, 195-pound senior raced untouched into the end zone.

The pass to Bystedt, on a second and 10 with 5:41 to go in the half, caught the Braves in a safety blitz. Cicero read it, threw over the middle to a wide open Bystedt at the St. John Bosco 35 and Bystedt did the rest.

St. John Bosco (4-1), missed two field goals, both from 40 yards, but got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter on a 40-yard pass from quarterback Todd Huzak to Jonathan Pittman.

The Braves added a 27-yard field goal from Joe Cordova with 3:35 to go in the third quarter, but after that, despite holding the ball most of the second half, St. John Bosco just could not get the ball in the end zone.

“We dominated. We dominated the front line, we came out in the second half and really took it to them, I thought,” said a dejected St. John Bosco Coach Jerry Person.

St. John Bosco, which held a decided 346-219 advantage in total yardage, had its best opportunity to take the lead with 7 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game. The Braves marched from their 41 to the Servite six-yard line and, following a Friar offside penalty, had the ball first and goal. But Husak dropped the ensuing snap, lost five yards in the process and St. John Bosco couldn’t recover. Husak’s desperation fourth-down toss to Cordova went through the receiver’s hands in the back of the end zone.

The Friars ground out three first downs--the only ones they managed in the second half--and ran out the clock.