There have been some big games in Northern California involving De La Salle since the last time a team from north of Fresno has toppled mighty Sparta, like Pittsburg did in the 1991 CIF North Coast Section 3A Division title game.
The boys from Concord have been tied twice by Palma-Salinas and Clayton Valley-Concord, and had some close games against Serra-San Mateo and its coach and De La Salle alum Patrick Walsh, Bellarmine-San Jose, and two years ago San Ramon Valley-Danville had Sparta on the ropes after scoring late and then went for two to get the victory, but couldn’t convert and lost 28-27. But no one has turned the trick in 290 games and 27 years, and in fact the Spartans have never lost to a team from the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
That having been said, this game with Folsom is still shaping up as possibly the biggest match-up in all the 27 years, even when De La Salle was on its record 151-game winning streak.
Folsom has tried twice against the Spartans and failed each time in similar fashion, but like each of the last two times they met, the De La Salle naysayers were writing the epitaph of Sparta prior to the game.
In 2012 they met in the Northern Regional Open Division Bowl game championship at Sacramento State and the De La Salle defense smothered current Washington quarterback Jake Browning. The sophomore at the time was able to get off 64 passes and completed 38 for a well below his average 284 yards and two TD, but he was intercepted twice and sacked 6.5 times in a 49-15 shellacking. De La Salle then went on to beat Centennial-Corona in the CIF state Open Division Bowl game to complete a 15-0 season and a state and national No. 1 ranking in what was the last game in the storied career of legendary Coach Bob Ladouceur.
It was pretty much a repeat performance in 2013 other then the fact the game was at Diablo Valley College and Lad’s protégé Coach Justin Alumbaugh was at the helm in his first year as head coach. Browning was a little better yardage and completion wise with a 38 of 56 for 344 yard performance, and he was only sacked once, but he only had one TD and was intercepted three times, twice by David Ortega. Meanwhile Sparta marched for 384 yards rushing and seven touchdowns with four by John Velsasco in a 45-17 victory.
De La Salle has been in every CIF Open Division title game except the first one in 2007, and they very well could have been in that one, but the honor was given to Grant-Sacramento. The Spartans have an overall record of 7-5 in CIF Bowl games and 6-3 in the Open Division, but the past two years they have been on the short end of the stick after losing 56-33 in 2016 to St. John Bosco-Bellflower and getting dominated last year in a 52-21 to state and national No. 1 Mater Dei-Santa Ana.
At De La Salle the only thing that counts are CIF Open Division state titles, and in order to achieve that goal this season and potentially turn around the last two seasons they will have to beat the Folsom passing juggernaut.
For all intents and purposes this is a playoff game in week one since it’s highly likely the winner of this game will be meeting one of the three previously mentioned Southern California powerhouses or someone else that emerges.
Last season while De La Salle was licking its wounds from the loss to Mater Dei, Folsom already had a day of celebration after a 49-42 victory over Helix-La Mesa gave them the CIF state 1-AA Bowl game title to complete a 16-0 season.
But as they say all that was then and this is now, and the doubters are back, but this time possibly with good reason. CIF state Open Division Bowl game runner-up De La Salle may be a more well-rounded team this year than some in the past, and has a lot of returning talent, but defending CIF state Division 1-AA Bowl game champion Folsom returns 15 starters.
The top returner for the Bulldogs from a recruiting standpoint is wide receiver Joe Ngata. The 6-3 210-pound Clemson-bound senior is like a locomotive when he gets his hands on the ball. Last season he had 81 receptions for 1,777 yards and 26 touchdowns, rushed for 150 yards and one TD on only nine carries, and even completed his only pass of the season against Helix for 16 yards. He’s also the punter when Folsom rarely punts, and averaged a whopping 38.3 yards a punt.
The other top player back is Kaiden Bennett. The 6-1, 180-pound senior quarterback with offers from Howard, Sacramento State, San Diego State, Texas-El Paso, UC Davis and Utah, passed for 4,431 yards and 57 TD and rushed 1,218 and 16 more scores.
A player to look for is Joe Ngata’s younger brother Daniyel Ngata. The 5-9, 190-pound junior was second on the team to Bennett is rushing with 863 yards and 11 TD and averaged nine yards a carry. He also caught 16 passes for 378 yards and four more scores.
A couple other players out of a whole bunch of top performers to look for are 6-2, 195-pound junior wide receiver Elijah Badger, 6-1, 185-pound senior wide receiver and defensive back Parker Clayton, and the anchor on the offensive line and son of Coach Kris Richardson, 6-2, 260-pound senior Kaden Richardson.
“We have to have physical, disciplined play, limit their big plays, and no fumbles for us,” was the answer of Alumbaugh to the formula for success on Friday night.
On offense De La Salle will need to be firing on all cylinders and that starts with Henry To’oto’o. The 6-2, 230-pound linebacker and running back with over 20 offers, including Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, and just about every Pac-12 school plus others, is a bruising tackler with speed to boot, and as running back he had 487 yards rushing and averaged 8.5 yards per carry.
Another player that will have to get yardage in the vaunted veer without fumbling against Folsom is quick and elusive running back Shamar Garrett. Last season the 5-7, 170-pound junior was second on the team in rushing with 511 yards and a 7.5 yard per carry average.
De La Salle is going to throw the ball more this year as both 5-10, 160-pound sophomore quarterback Dorian Hale and 6-3, 180-pound senior Andrew Jones have been looking good over the summer.
“Both Hale and Jones have made great strides, so we’re much more dynamic at quarterback,” Alumbaugh said.
A player that could be a factor in this game on both sides of the ball is 6-4, 220-pound senior tight end/defensive end Isaiah Foskey. He’s a dynamic pass rusher, bats down a lot of passes, and if Alumbaugh decides to throw like he’s indicated he’d like and may have to do, Foskey could be key.
“Our practices have been good and I’m happy with our prep,” Alumbaugh remarked. “They look ready.”
Some analysts are saying Folsom is favored with Hale making his first start and the Bulldogs having so much offensive firepower, and the inevitability that someday the De La Salle stranglehold on teams north of Fresno will end. The question is will it be Friday night.
De La Salle has partnered with CBS Sports Digital to stream this and eight other games live, so if you can’t get to Owen Owens Field on Friday at 7:30 p.m. you can watch it on the internet.
