Pittsburg hosts St. John Bosco in a battle between one of Northern California’s best teams against one of Southern California’s best teams. TeamFB7 highlights some players to watch in one of the biggest games of the week in California.
Two of the state’s top 20 teams will meet in Northern California Friday for the first time since 2024. St. John Bosco beat Pittsburg 35-14 at Panish Family Stadium in the lone meeting between the two teams in history.
Several players that will hit the gridiron on Friday played in that game two years ago. St. John Bosco quarterback Koa Malau’ulu was making one of his first career starts as a freshman in that game and is now one of the top junior quarterbacks in the state.
Breaking Down some Players to Watch in the game between St. John Bosco and Pittsburg this Friday
Here are the players to keep an eye on in Pittsburg on Friday when the Braves and Pirates meet up.
St. John Bosco
Maliq Allen, RB
Maliq Allen had a big game last week in Bosco’s win over Roman Catholic with 139 yards with 3 touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. He ran for a game-high 71 yards with 2 touchdowns for the Braves in the aforementioned game against Pittsburg two years ago and has improved drastically over the last two years. Pittsburg’s opponent Monterey Trail ran for 206 yards last week against the Pirates so Allen may be due for another big game.
Kuika Moaalii, WR
The 6-foot-5 sophomore has had touchdown catches in each of St. John Bosco’s first two games of the season. Kuika Moaalii is a tough matchup for any defense and should get some opportunities to catch passes in the red zone in this game.
Luke Barley, OL
The offensive line isn’t as loaded with big names as some past teams Bosco has had success with, but this group still gets a push in the run game. Luke Barley is the starting right guard for the Braves and does a great job bouncing to the second level in the run game. He takes good angles when bouncing to linebackers and has good timing when coming off of the double team.
Isala Wily-Ava, DB
The Washington commit had a team-high 9 tackles for St. John Bosco against Roman Catholic last week and forced a fumble. Isala Wily-Ava also led the Braves in tackles with 11 the first time they played Pittsburg two years ago and added an interception. He is the leader of St. John Bosco’s secondary and could have a big game Friday.
Dillon Davis, DB
Dillon Davis had 7 tackles with a blocked field goal against Roman Catholic last week. The Vanderbilt commit had 10 tackles against Pittsburg as a sophomore in the first meeting. He was heavily praised by coach Jason Negro for his performance at the Battle at the Beach passing tournament.
Dorian Franklin, DB
Dorian Franklin returned an interception 41 yards against Roman Catholic last week. The Harvard commit has the positional versatility St. John Bosco’s coaching staff has to love and can play corner, nickel or safety in the Braves’ defense.
Pittsburg
Javale Jones, QB
Javale Jones was very efficient in Pittsburg’s win over Monterey Trail last week completing 8 of 11 passes for 99 yards with 3 touchdowns. He led the Pirates to a North Coast Section Division 1 championship last season as a sophomore. Pittsburg threw for 212 yards in the first game against St. John Bosco and the Pirates will need a big performance from Jones to pull off the upset.
Deveon Wilson, WR
Deveon Wilson had 2 touchdown catches for Pittsburg last week against Monterey Trail. He has a more expanded role as a junior this year than he did as a sophomore and has a tough matchup this week against Bosco’s secondary.
Kenneth Ward, WR/DB
Kenneth Ward had over 1,200 all-purpose yards as a sophomore last year and had a touchdown catch last week against Monterey Trail. Ward is one of the few Pittsburg players who played against St. John Bosco two years ago and had two catches for 81 yards with a touchdown. He picked up offers from Nevada, Oregon and Colorado this summer.
Maurice Harts, DB
Maurice Harts had an interception in his first varsity start last week against Monterey Trail. Pittsburg will need to force some turnovers in order to beat Bosco and Harts has upside as a ball-hawk defender.
