This week, Trinity League is a go

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What does Coach Kiki Mendoza think of his St. John Bosco team playing Servite in a Trinity League tilt Friday night after a 13-day layoff?

‘I think Mater Dei caught a break not having to play us last week,’ he said.

Mendoza doesn’t mean to be presumptuous. He knows as well as anyone that the Monarchs are ranked No. 1 by The Times and in the state, and that they’re No. 7 nationally in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings.

But he might be right.

The Braves (3-4, 0-1) led Orange Lutheran, 17-14, in the second half before their late turnovers helped the Lancers, ranked No. 11 by The Times, score the last 14 points of the game and win, 28-17, on Oct. 12.

In two of their three other losses, the Braves also led in the fourth quarter before falling to well-regarded Rancho Verde, 28-24, and to Corona Santiago, 17-15.

Mendoza’s words are better taken as the compliment intended toward the always-tough Trinity League.

‘I know most people don’t give us much of a chance,’ he said. ‘But this is a league in which the last-place team really can beat the first-place team any given day, and everybody is a threat to everybody else. I look forward to playing every game in this league.’

I’m looking forward to watching the game.

The Trinity League voluntarily canceled all its games last week in the wake of poor air-quality caused by wildfires that affected the Orange County area. The move caused St. John Bosco to miss its chance to go up against Mater Dei and cut Servite’s game against San Juan Capistrano Serra from the schedule.

Now, the Braves are raring to go against the Friars (6-1, 2-0), who are ranked seventh by The Times and feature senior running back D.J. Shoemate and senior offensive tackle Matt Kalil. Both have committed to USC and have been selected to play in the Army All-American Bowl in January.

‘We were all off last week, so we’re all in the same boat,’ Mendoza said. ‘We may not have played or practiced outside much last week, but we still could look at film and run as many mental plays as we could. And we filled every minute of extra time we had in the last week doing that.’

-- Lauren Peterson