More drama in the Southern California Varsity Red as St. John Bosco held off View Park in a thriller in the Los Angeles division.

Kerry Kelly photo.

Bosco and View Park Prep traded tries throughout, with View Park leading twice in the first half, and Bosco taking the lead once and then tying it at 12-12 at the break.

In the second half, St. John Bosco nudged ahead 19-12, but View Park tied it up 19-19. Bosco replied with two unconverted tries, and that basically sealed it. View Park would score once more, but Bosco held on 29-26.

While St. John Bosco is known for their big forwards pounding the ball up the gut, View Park did well to contain that approach with their smaller forwards. Emari Daniels, with his pace and elusiveness, was a constant scoring threat for View Park, and scored two tries.

"Defenses aren't getting set quick enough for him and he is gone," said View Park Head Coach David Hughes. View Park's Kaleb Jenkins scored from long range on a show-and-go, and Zarion Patton showed some snappy ability to read a play, and picked off a pass for a try.

For Bosco, sophomore center/No. 8 George Holani was excellent. He scored some crucial tries, and was hard to stop regardless of the position he played.

Hughes said his team could have won, but got stuck in a tight, physical confrontation for about ten minutes, during which Bosco scored those two late second-half tries that put the game away.

"Just not quite enough Rugby IQ to eliminate the physical dominance," said Hughes.