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Beating those clowns would make it even sweeter.
St. John Bosco football fanbase ready to bring home CIF title
Student Elan Aguero shows his school spirit for St. John Bosco high school's football team that is headed to the CIF Southern Section Championship game this weekend at a pep rally in Bellflower on Thursday, December 5, 2013. (Photo by Sean Hiller/ Daily Breeze).
By Chris Trevino, Christian.trevino@langnews.com, ChrisNTrevino on Twitter
POSTED: 12/06/13, 3:28 PM PST |
On Dec. 12, 1986, Al Windes and Monty McDermott Sr. pulled into Angel Stadium parking lot in Windes’ cream white ‘78 Ford pickup truck. They were the only ones in sight.
Windes and McDermott had arrived nearly three hours early to watch St. John Bosco play for its first CIF title in the Big Five championship game against Crespi High School.
“At first they weren’t even going to let us in,” says Windes, now 74, with a laugh.
So the two friends and fathers did the only thing they could: they sat in the lot, waiting for Braves fans to trickle in and join them. And for nearly three decades, Windes, McDermott and countless others in the Bosco community are still waiting.
That night Bosco lost 49-14, with 12,651 people watching Crespi win its first title. And on Saturday at Angel Stadium, 27 years later, St. John Bosco fans, a group that resembles a family more than anything, get another chance to see their football team finally bring home a CIF title in an 8 p.m. matchup with Mater Dei.
“The (community) is going to be so excited on Saturday,” says principal Casey Yeazel. “Not just for the football team, but for the school as well.”
Terms like “brotherhood” and “family” are the words most commonly used to define that community, one that prides itself on the support it provides for their school, especially for football.
“We’re a very passionate group of fans ... once you become associated with Bosco you can see how close knit we are,” says Jon Lucero (‘86), one of six boys who all attended Bosco.
That family has had a lot to be excited about these the past two years. Bosco has gone 25-1 thanks to two undefeated regular seasons and two Trinity League titles. Bosco sometimes resembles a small college program with early tailgates and well-attended road games. And as Bosco has marched through the playoffs this season, blowout after blowout, the support continues to build.
“It’s kind of crazy,” says Lucero, a Bosco administrator, who has missed just two football games since he graduated. “I’ve been getting phone calls from old friends and messages on Facebook asking where they can get Bosco gear ... they are just going crazy that we are back in the finals.”
Monty McDermott Jr. (‘86), the athletic director, says his office has also been experiencing the recent outpour from the community, getting up to 20 calls a day from alumni also looking for Bosco gear, not including the daily emails and texts.
And it’s not just the older generation that is ready for Saturday night, but the current one as well. On Thursday, the school held a small pep rally for the students with members of the ‘86 team speaking. Bosco junior Elan “Speedy” Aguero led a group of face-painted students sprinting around the gym and then led the school wide “I believe we will win” chant to close out the event.
“Saturday’s going to be a challenge,” says Aguero, leader of the student section, his face still painted blue from the pep rally. “I might lose my voice for the first time.”
Children even have their place in the Bosco fanbase, thanks to a ball boy program run by Lucero for the past 20 years.
“You can see their eyes light up when (lineman) Damien Mama walks by them on the sidelines and he’s five times their size,” says Lucero. Most of the ball boys have a connection the school, a father, brother, cousin who has walked Bosco’s hallways. Lucero estimates 95 percent of their ball boys go on to become Braves.
And despite being an all-boys school, Bosco has a dedicated following of women, women like Al Windes daughter-in-law, Dana Windes, who was a cheerleader for the Braves, attending Bosco’s sister school Saint Joseph High School in Lakewood.
“We still consider ourselves part of the big (Bosco) community,” says Dana Windes.
“If Bosco was a co-ed school, I would have attended,” says Carrie Ruffalo, the daughter of McDermott Sr. and another graduate of Saint Joseph. “It has the ability to attract and pull you in.”
And despite the fanbase being close-knit group, there is disagreement entering Saturday: whether there is a “monkey off our back” feel for the program still chasing that first title.
“I think for guys like myself ... we want them to win for all of us,” says Chris Felix (‘69), a former three-year starter on the football team and fixture on the Bosco sideline.
But others disagree, saying this team is different or the program itself has changed, that what happened 27 years is too far back for the current team to be drastically affected by it. All they know is the success they have now.
But whatever side they fall on, Bosco fans, young and old, will agree that the atmosphere will be electric on Saturday, a night to remember for all those in attendance.
And for fans like Windes and McDermott Sr., the chance to return to Angel Stadium is looked upon with great expectation. While they may not be the first in the parking lot this time around, Windes and McDermott will arrive early for a game they wouldn’t miss for the world. It will like little has changed. Well, almost.
“This time we’ll be in a minivan,” says Windes with a laugh.
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