St. John Bosco beats Alemany, 33-28, in playoff opener

Back and forth Bellflower St. John Bosco and Mission Hills Alemany went in a Pac-5 Division playoff opener on Friday night that was full of suspense, featured six lead changes and lived up every bit to the hype of a game not to miss.

In the end, two fourth-quarter interceptions by Dalis Bruce helped rally St. John Bosco to a 33-28 victory over Serra League champion Alemany, the No. 4 seed.

Alemany (8-3) was trying to run out the clock with a 28-27 lead. On third down, quarterback Devon Dunn was intercepted by Bruce with 2:04 left, giving the Braves the ball on their own 35.

Quarterback Rene Medina drove St. John Bosco to a game-winning score. He completed a 16-yard pass to Royce Moore and connected with Bryce Treggs on passes of 23 and 11 yards. Medina broke off an 11-yard run.

Then DaVonte Young gave St. John Bosco the lead with a four-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left.

“A lot of people doubted us, and to beat a team as good as Alemany is a breakthrough game,” Treggs said.

Medina completed 16 of 26 passes for 285 yards. Moore rushed for 112 yards in 25 carries. Treggs caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

This was the type of victory people always knew St. John Bosco (8-3), the third-place finisher in the Trinity League, was capable of pulling off.

“The Trinity League is a brutal stretch, and a third-place team in our league is a No. 1,” Coach Jason Negro said.

Dunn was intercepted three times while passing for 268 yards. His two-yard touchdown run with 10:57 left after an 80-yard drive had given the Warriors a 28-27 lead.

The first half was evenly matched, with the offenses causing problems but also trading turnovers. Alemany led, 21-20, on the strength of Steven Mitchell getting touchdowns on a four-yard run and 35-yard interception return, along with Jeff Farrar catching a 55-yard scoring pass. St. John Bosco had touchdown runs of 15 yards and one yard from Moore and a 19-yard TD catch from Nick Lehman.

Alemany’s defense came up with two interceptions. St. John Bosco’s defense had an interception and fumble recovery. Everything revolved around how much protection the offensive lines could provide the quarterbacks. When they had time, they were successful. When they didn’t, problems ensued.

St. John Bosco was making its first playoff appearance since 2004. Negro was hired after the 2009 season to turn around the program, and Friday’s victory will give the alumni and Braves fans something to cheer about. But they aren’t satisfied, and that’s why they are a dangerous team, indeed.

eric.sondheimer@lateimes.com