CONCORD – After watching his side recover a Serra fumble with 30 seconds left in the half and 94 yards of turf to cover, De La Salle assistant coach Terry Eidson wanted the Spartans to take a knee
DLS led by four points. Why take a risk?
Head coach Justin Alumbaugh went with his gut instead. Senior running back Derrick Blanche took an inside carry 46 yards and got the ball to midfield.
Then the Spartans called a new play – named Serra, of all things – and then watched as senior quarterback Toa Faavae rolled left and hurled a 46-yard bomb to Jayden Nicholas for a touchdown that sent the Spartans into the break with an 11-point advantage.
“That completely flipped the game,” Alumbaugh said. “It was a dog fight, and it was still a dogfight after that, but that just changed the momentum.”
After getting a stop to start the second half and scoring another touchdown, De La Salle was well on its way to a 39-10 statement win over the Padres on Friday night that staked the Concord school’s claim to being the best in NorCal.
In front of commissioners from the North Coast and Central Coast sections and an assortment of other CIF dignitaries, the Spartans snapped Serra’s 29-game winning streak against NorCal opponents, and did so in typical De La Salle fashion.
The green and grey veer attack produced 322 rushing yards, with Blanche running for 182 and a touchdown, and Dominic Kelley punching in two second-half scores. Duece Jones-Drew had 39 rushing yards, and Jefferson rushed for 51 on three carries.
The Spartans also avenged their 28-0 loss at Serra a year ago, a loss teammates, classmates and even teachers wouldn’t let star defensive back Jaden Jefferson forget in the leadup to the biggest matchup in NorCal.
“Yes, even my teachers motivated us,” Jefferson said. “We knew we had something to prove.”
Serra – coming off a momentous Week 1 upset at Folsom – just didn’t have the firepower to keep up with a team hungry for revenge.
“Clearly, their game plan was to show Serra who’s boss,” Walsh said. “Clearly, it was, ‘Let’s pick a fight with Serra and see what they’ve got.’ We took a couple of jabs, and I’m proud of them and we’re going to learn from this. But at the end of the day, that was a championship squad over there.”
They sure did try their best for a half, though.
Using a crushing offensive line that featured future collegiate blockers in Louis Apka and Elias Shamieh, the Padres held the ball on long, time-consuming drives that limited the first half to just six possessions.
Led by hard-charging running back Nano Latu (76 yards), the Padres chewed through four minutes on a six-play opening drive that ended with a Smith field goal.
But after De La Salle answered with a six-play drive – all runs – that ended with Faavae sneaking the ball in from the one-yard line, Serra never led again.
The Padres had a chance to cut the deficit to one on a short field goal following an eight-play drive, but De La Salle’s line tipped the ball.
Serra’s defense, led by senior Jermaine Barrett, held De La Salle scoreless. But the offense couldn’t break through.
After getting the ball all the way down to the three-yard line on a nine-play drive, Serra had a chance to take a lead before getting the ball back to start the second half.
Then the quarterback and running back muffed the handoff. De La Salle recovered the ball, scored on Faavae’s moonball to go into halftime with a 14-3 lead, and thus crushed any momentum the Padres would have had.
The second half belonged to Matthew Johnson and the defense.
Motivated and reinvigorated after being pushed around in the first half, Johnson had two sacks and seemed to set up residence in the Serra backfield.
“Coach came in at halftime and tuned us up a little bit, and we came out with a different mentality,” Johnson said.
When the 6-foot-5 behemoth wasn’t getting to the quarterback, the speedy Jaden Jefferson was putting his own stamp on the game.
The reigning North Coast Section 100-meter champion showed off his strength when he knocked a ball-carrier’s helmet off as part of a tone-setting stop on Serra’s opening drive of the second-half.
After Kelly scored consecutive touchdowns to make it 26-3, Serra’s Iziah Singleton kept things momentarily manageable with a 10-yard touchdown.
That’s when Jefferson turned on the jets and blasted past everyone on a 43-yard sweep to give De La Salle a 32-10 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.
“Nobody can catch me,” Jefferson said. “My running back coach (Terron) Ward always says ‘Speed first, speed first.’”
The Padres won’t have much time to lick their wounds.
SoCal juggernaut St. John Bosco – which defeated Serra 45-0 in the 2022 Open Division state championship game – and its endless supply of college talent is making the trip to the Peninsula.
“We’re going to see what type of courage we have,” Walsh said. “We’re going up against the best team. They’re an absolute machine.”
Meanwhile, De La Salle now has an inside track to representing NorCal in the state Open Division title game.
Of course, there’s a long ways to go between now and December, including a test next week against St. Francis in Concord. Three years ago, the Lancers snapped De La Salle’s 318-game unbeaten streak against NorCal opponents, so Alumbaugh’s team knows better than to take them lightly.
“St. Francis is a wonderful team and a powerful team with special guys,” Jefferson said. “We can’t let up.”
