St. John Bosco, Long Beach Poly schedule big football games for 2016

The two local football powerhouses, St. John Bosco and Long Beach Poly, have developed a reputation for scheduling big-time football games. That trend is going to continue at least into the 2016 football season, as coaches from both programs have confirmed they’ll be hosting marquee games this upcoming year.

St. John Bosco

The Braves will once again enter the upcoming season ranked nationally, with CIF-SS, state, and national championship hopes. So it’s no surprise that head coach Jason Negro has assembled a top-tier schedule once again this year. Negotiations were still underway for a Week 0 game that could take the Braves out of state, but the four other nonleague games had been finalized.

The biggest news is that St. John Bosco will host Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in Week 2 in a rematch of a national No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown from a few seasons ago. The Braves will also face La Mirada, Crespi and St. Mary’s of Stockton.

The Braves’ game against Bishop Gorman will be either Sept. 9 or 10, at a site still to be determined, likely either Cerritos College or Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Long Beach Poly

The Jackrabbits have played a top national schedule every year under head coach Antonio Pierce, and they’ve scheduled what will likely be one of the big-attention games in all of SoCal this year, as they’ll welcome the IMG Academy from Florida to Veterans Memorial Stadium for a Week 9 matchup (with the exact date to be determined).

Poly will mimic its move from last year by playing a big game in the middle of the league schedule, taking a bye week in the first month of the season rather than during the league schedule.

That won’t be the only marquee game hosted at Vets this year, after the Jackrabbits had just three home games in all of 2015. As previously reported, Poly will also host Los Alamitos in Week 0, and Narboe in Week 2. The Jackrabbits are still negotiating for a Week 2 or 3 game, and will take their bye on the week that isn’t scheduled.

La Mirada

In addition to hosting the Braves on Aug. 28, the defending state champion Matadores will have another big Trinity League showdown on Sept. 11, as they’ll host Mater Dei. Their other nonleague games are on the road at Charter Oak in Week 1, and on the road at San Clemente in Week 3.

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