This preview is the fifth in a series of articles highlighting the local 11-man high school football teams ahead of the 2025 season, which begins with Week Zero on Friday, Aug. 22.
The Bishop Diego football program experienced a rare down season in 2024, falling just short of the CIF-SS playoffs after going 4-5-1 and losing three games by one possession.
However, this year’s Cardinals come out of the offseason with a new sense of optimism thanks to an experienced offensive corps and head coach Tom Crawford returning for his 26th year at the helm.
“It was the first time in a long time we hadn’t made the playoffs and it really boiled down to not getting that .500 record,” Crawford said of last year’s shortcomings. “Going into this season, I think there’s this mindset that we’ve got to be prepared to have better starts to games because we fell behind in some games early on, and it seemed like it took a while for us to get going.
“There are so many of these guys that were on last year’s team, and they experienced that. So hopefully we learned from the experience and understand every game that we have is going to be a tight game with high competitiveness levels.”
Bishop Diego will enter the season with five seniors in five key skill positions on the offensive side of the ball: quarterback Tua Rojas (6-1, 190 lbs.), running back Oscar Mauia (5-11, 220 lbs.), running back Gabe Villa (5-8, 170 lbs.), wide receiver John Michael Flint (6-3, 190 lbs.) and wide receiver Sam Crawford (6-1, 180 lbs.).
This ‘Fab Five’ has plenty of experience together, as the majority of them have played the past three years on the varsity squad and built a solid resume in the Marmonte League.
“Over these past four years, we’ve all been together, so we’ve all worked together,” Rojas said. “We were young two years ago, so that definitely gave us that boost of confidence to come out here and build that chemistry. It’s going to be an exciting year with all these guys.”
“It’s kind of been present all off-season, and that is simply their experience level,” Tom Crawford said. “They’ve physically grown, they’ve gotten faster, they’re extremely comfortable with what they’re asked to do within our system.
“Because of their experience level, their versatility is really helping us. We have several of the receiver guys who can play multiple spots. Having a quarterback who’s been in your program for three years and started so many games, he’s done a nice job of developing a connection with those guys.”
While Rojas is poised to have his biggest season of his high school career after battling injuries last season, Mauia returns to the Cardinals after back-to-back All-Marmonte League First Team seasons and 1,231 rushing yards a season ago.
Mauia figures to be a key piece of the offense once again, despite Bishop Diego fielding a youthful offensive line in a scheme that has been traditionally built on dominating the trenches.
“Oscar can make a lot of guys look pretty good and he’s been fantastic in the offseason,” Tom Crawford said. “He weighs 220 pounds, and he runs really hard. He’s improved his ball-catching skills tremendously in the off-season, so he’s become a dynamic receiver for us as well.
“We’ll still pound the ball when we have to, because when you have a back like that, you know that he can make things happen.”
Senior center Sui’ Faiaulama (6-0, 270) is the most seasoned member of the offensive line, and he will be joined by fellow returner and junior Terrence Tasila (6-1, 270). Despite the youth of the rest of the line, Tom Crawford is excited about the size and energy of this year’s unit.
“They’re a very competitive group. They’re a very strong group,” Crawford said. “I think the biggest thing is going to be them getting used to the speed of everything that’s happening.”
Given the roster size in years past, Bishop Diego has consistently had players go both ways throughout the season. However, Crawford is hoping that won’t be the case this fall.
“We’ve made a conscious decision to try to decrease the number of two-way players,” Crawford said. “Several of our impact players from last year who graduated rarely left the field, and as tough and physical as those kids were… It’s a wear.
“We’re going to be young on the defensive side, but we’re really excited about some of the guys that we have defensively. There’s nobody on the roster that we’re afraid to put out on the field… They fly around, they trust themselves. They’re going to have some learning experiences too early on in the season.”
Sam Crawford, along with his role at wideout, is slated to be one of the senior leaders on the defensive side of the ball as a starting safety.
On the defensive line, Tasila and sophomore Poamo Liu (6-0, 280 lbs.) will play key roles in clogging up any running lanes for the Cardinals. Meanwhile, sophomores D’Marzy Siaosi (5-11, 247 lbs.) and Sam Boeddeker (5-10, 200 lbs.) will be in the middle of the action at linebacker positions.
“We think, top to bottom, our roster is pretty athletic,” Tom Crawford said. “I think they have the potential to be really, really solid defense. and we’ll obviously need that in the Marmonte League.”
The Marmonte League will be one of the best in the state once again this year as the Cardinals must face off against powerhouse programs such as Oaks Christian, Pacifica and Simi Valley.
On top of this, Bishop Diego will have the tall task of playing four of its five non-league contests on the road, including matchups with Lancaster and Bishop Alemany.
“We were looking kind of at schools (for non-league games) that had a variety of looks and things that might translate into what we’re going to see in league,” Crawford said. “I think that the teams that we’re playing, we tried to find competitive teams, because it is going to be really important for us to have a successful non-league season.”
Bishop Diego Football Schedule
- Friday, August 22 @ Lancaster
- Friday, August 29 @ West Ranch
- Friday, September 5 @ MAELV
- Friday, September 19 vs. Etiwanda
- Friday, September 26 @ Bishop Alemany
- Thursday, October 2 vs. Camarillo*
- Friday, October 10 @ Oaks Christian*
- Friday, October 17 vs. Simi Valley*
- Friday, October 24 @ St. Bonaventure*
- Friday, October 31 vs. Pacifica*
* – Marmonte League Game
All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.