Bryce Young accounted for all five of his team’s touchdowns as No. 1 Mater Dei maintained its hold on the Southland’s and nation’s top ranking with a 38-24 win Oct. 25 over No. 2 St. John Bosco.

A sold-out crowd of 5,000-plus at Parish Family Stadium in Bellflower saw Young, among the nation’s best prep quarterbacks (and headed for Alabama next fall), throw three TD passes, run for two more scores and pile up close to 400 yards running and passing. Kody Epps caught all three scoring passes and 11 passes altogether for 175 yards.

For the Braves, Clemson-bound quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw for 312 yards and two scoring passes, and led his team’s attempt to rally from a 31-10 third quarter deficit. A 34-yard TD run by Rayshon Luke made the score 31-17, and Uiagalelei's 48-yard strike to Kris Hutson with just under 11 minutes to play again brought Bosco back to within two touchdowns.

But two Monarch stops of fourth quarter Brave drives inside the Mater Dei 10, and three Bosco to turnovers to none for the Monarchs proved to be the difference. With the win, Mater Dei remains unbeaten at 9-0, 4-0 in Trinity League play, to St. John Bosco’s 8-1 and 3-1. 

The Monarchs’ regular season finale is Nov. 1 at home against J.Serra (6-3, 2-2) which beat Orange Lutheran 19-0. The Braves end their season the same night at home against Santa Margarita, a 27-0 loser to Servite on Friday, and Servite  (6-3, 2-2) takes on Orange Lutheran.

And it would surprise no one if Mater Dei and St. John  Bosco have one more date night with one another on Nov. 30, the scheduled night of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 final.

There were plenty of important (if less publicized) high school football games this weekend in addition to the Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco game last Friday that had an impact on league championships and may affect post-season playoff seedings.

And some of the results were enough to turn some league battles into free-for-alls heading into the final weekend of regular season play. To wit:

Mission League: Bishop Amat (8-1 overall, 4-0 league) clinched the championship with a 35-21 win over Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (6-3, 2-2). But Serra (5-4, 1-3) upset Alemany (6-2, 2-3) 32-25, while Chaminade (4-5, 2-2) stopped Loyola (3-5, 1-3) 21-10. Recall that Alemany and Loyola each have an additional league loss (not reflected in their overall records) because they were unable to reschedule their encounter that was cancelled because of poor air quality from recent brush fires.

The Nov. 1 schedule has Alemany at Notre Dame, Chaminade at Serra and Loyola at Bishop Amat. All are in playoff contention, since four CIF-SS divisions are represented by the six teams.

Camino Real: Cantwell-Sacred Heart (7-2, 2-0), under the radar much of the year, surprised Mary Star (7-2, 1-1) at San Pedro, 34-33,  while Bishop Montgomery (2-7, 1-1) stunned St. Monica (6-2, 0-2) at Torrance, 21-15. That puts the Cardinals, winners of five straight, in the driver’s seat going into their finale at St. Monica, while Mary Star is at Bishop Montgomery.

Other leagues in which Catholic schools comprise most if not all of the membership posted less surprising results, for the most part.

Angelus: Cathedral, whose 5-4 overall record (2-0 league) reflects a tougher schedule against teams in higher divisions, defeated Crespi 24-7, setting up a title showdown at St. Francis (7-2, 1-1) which overpowered Salesian 56-0. Crespi (5-4, 1-1) is at Salesian (1-8, 0-2) in the other game.

Del Rey: St. Paul (7-2, 3-0) took charge with a 49-7 rout of St. Anthony (5-5, 3-1), which ended its regular season, while La Salle (6-3, 1-2) outscored St. Genevieve (4-5, 0-3) 41-21. This week La Salle is at Harvard-Westlake (3-6, 1-2) and St. Genevieve is at St. Paul.

Santa Fe: Unbeaten St. Pius X-St. Matthias (8-0, 2-0) kept rolling, 46-12 over Verbum Dei (2-7, 1-1), and St. Bernard (4-4, 1-1) stopped Don Bosco Tech (1-8, 0-2) 45-0. Season finales pit St. Pius X-St. Matthias at Don Bosco Tech, and St. Bernard at Verbum Dei.

Other results included the following:

Baseline: Damien (5-4, 2-2) outlasted Etiwanda 32-28, and plays at Los Osos (4-5, 04) this week, with a Division 4 playoff berth a possibility for the Spartans.

Camino: Bishop Diego (4-5, 1-2) beat Moorpark 17-14, keeping the Cardinals alive in D-5 as they play winless Thousand Oaks this week.

Marmonte: St. Bonaventure (5-4, 1-2), idle last week and also in the D-5 playoff picture, hosts league leader Calabasas (7-2, 3-0). 

Non-League: Paraclete (6-3), also idle last week and a D-3 playoff contender, hosts Sierra Canyon (8-1). 

Eight-Man: Avalon defeated St. Michael’s (6-3) 54-16 in the Express League; Santa Clara (4-1) defeated Lancaster Baptist 32-28 in a non-league game; and Villanova (3-3) lost its season finale to Thacher 61-6. This week, St. Michael’s is at Rolling Hills Prep, and Santa Clara hosts Blair.