Football: Stars align for St. John Bosco-Bishop Gorman matchup

It was set up for TV months ago, but the matchup on Friday at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas between St. John Bosco (3-0) and Bishop Gorman (5-0) has turned out to be even better than expected.

ESPN and its marketing partner put together the game mainly to show off all the potential college prospects on the two teams. Now that St. John Bosco is ranked No. 1 by USA Today and Bishop Gorman No. 2, the game has taken on a whole new meaning.

It could be one of the best high school football games in the last 15 years on the West Coast, ranking with the De La Salle-Long Beach Poly game of 2001 and last year’s De La Salle-St. John Bosco matchup.

St. John Bosco’s offense is loaded with talent, led by UCLA-bound quarterback Josh Rosen and junior running back Sean McGrew.

Bishop Gorman has a pair of sophomore standouts in quarterback Tate Martell and receiver Tyjon Lindsey, both of whom picked up offers from USC this week. Add tight end Alize Jones, a UCLA commit, and you can understand why UCLA and USC fans will be paying close attention to the game that will be televised by ESPN.

Bishop Gorman will deserve an unofficial Pac-5 Division championship trophy if it wins the game, because the Gaels have already beaten Servite, Corona Centennial and Santa Margarita this season.

There’s going to be 7,000 fans packed into Bishop Gorman’s stadium. Here’s the link to Bishop Gorman’s preview video of the atmosphere to expect.

St. John Bosco won’t be intimidated. The Braves played in last year’s Open Division bowl game at StubHub Center before some 16,000 fans.

St. John Bosco’s rebuilt defense will get a huge test. The Braves must be able to stop Martell on his option runs and deny the big play.

When asked to make a prediction, A.J. Gass, the Servite coach whose team lost to Bishop Gorman in the season opener, said, “That’s a tough one. Seeing what Bishop Gorman has as weapons, it’s hard to bet against them, but knowing how strong Bosco is defensively and knowing they can outscore anyone they go up against, I’m going with Bosco.”

Twitter:@LATSondheimer