Koa Malau’ulu rallies St. John Bosco to thrilling victory over Orange Lutheran

Standing in the middle of his home field on Friday night, St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro revealed that history was about to be made for his team’s Trinity League opener against Orange Lutheran.

“Twenty-two years of coaching, I’ve never started a freshman at quarterback,” he said.

Koa Malau’ulu, the son of former Carson and Arizona quarterback George Malau’ulu, received his “baptism by fire” in his first start because of an injury to Matai Fuiava. He completed three of nine passes for 45 yards in the first half. The Braves went scoreless.

Then something extraordinary happened. In a second half that was as good and as exciting as anyone could ever ask for, Malau’ulu completed 20 of 22 passes, including four touchdown throws, to rally St. John Bosco to a 28-24 victory over the Lancers in a game that featured five lead changes over the final 24 minutes. He finished with 270 yards passing with one interception.

“He played one of the best quarterback performances in the second half we’ve ever had here,” Negro said.

Freshman quarterback Koa Malau’ulu was 20 of 22 passing in second half for four touchdowns for St. John Bosco.

(Craig Weston)

Said Malau’ulu: “I felt great. Got support from my teammates. I was down and they picked me up.”

Carson Clark helped Malau’ulu with 10 receptions in the second half, including the winning 22-yard touchdown catch with 50 seconds left. Madden Williams had touchdown receptions of nine and 27 yards. It was an unusual comeback engineered by Malau’ulu considering there was virtually no running game by the Braves (6-0).

Orange Lutheran pulled out all its trick plays — there were four — and came way with a 10-0 halftime lead. The biggest came in the second quarter. On fourth and one, quarterback TJ Lateef suddenly came under the center instead of being in shotgun formation. Everyone thought it would be quarterback sneak. Lateef got the snap, hid the ball and found an uncovered AJ Ia for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

Lateef, a Nebraska commit, was 14 of 18 passing for 115 yards in the first half as the Lancers used up large chunks of clock to keep St. John Bosco’s offense off the field.

“I thought what they did with their tempo was impressive,” Negro said.

Lateef finished 24 of 34 for 209 yards, with two touchdown passes to Ia. He also rushed for 80 yards but was sacked by Brandon Nash on the game’s final play when he tried to complete a winning touchdown pass from the St. John Bosco 40 as time expired. Steve Chavez rushed for 127 yards.

Ia is Malau’ulu’s cousin and was impressed.

“That’s my dog,” he said of the 15-year-old freshman. “He’s improved.”

The game’s competitiveness came as no surprise. It was happening across the Southland in two other Trinity League games. Coaches have said from top to bottom, the six-team league has never been better, and it was reflected in the results. Servite handed JSerra its first defeat, 20-7. Mater Dei defeated Santa Margarita 40-18 after leading at halftime 16-10.

“It was a tough game,” Ia said. “Everyone played well. We all played hard.”