Negotiations under way to play St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei at SoFi Stadium

The biggest high school football game of the regular season is expected to be St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei on Oct. 7, and the schools are in negotiations with Rams representatives to play the game at SoFi Stadium, according to Ghalee Wadood, high school coordinator for the Rams.

He said St. John Bosco has signed off and Mater Dei must also agree to playing at the venue. The game was originally scheduled for Santa Ana Stadium.

It would be a breakthrough moment to have a high school football game played at the stadium in Inglewood. St. John Bosco was supposed to play at SoFi in 2021 until COVID-19 rules forced a site change. Wadood said he wanted to put together another high school game this fall at SoFi and make the facility available on a yearly basis when there are no other events scheduled.

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In an email on Thursday, Joel Hartmann, executive director of athletics at Mater Dei, said, “We are scheduled to play our home game with St. John Bosco on October 7, 2022, at Eddie West Stadium at 7 p.m.. If this information changes, we will notify our Mater Dei community and the media outlets.”

Mater Dei and St. John Bosco are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in several national rankings. There appears to be growing support to feature high school football in Southern California. The Coliseum will host several games this season, including Roosevelt vs. Garfield. The Rose Bowl has opened its facility to host the Southern Section Division 1 championship game on Nov. 25.