CONCORD, Calif. – The old cliché “a win is a win is a win” pretty much describes the season opener for host De La Salle.
The Spartans looked a little off of their usual form, but in the end the streak of no team north of Fresno besting De La Salle since 1991 increases to 311 games after they held off a very talented St. Mary’s-Stockton team in a 35-27 season-opening victory.
One thing that was particularly eerie about this game was the bitter 40-degree temperature for most of the game, and the emptiness of the stands since only a limited number of parents of both teams were allowed to attend. Plus, the usually boisterous and packed student section was vacant as well.
It was anything but a cake walk. After St. Mary’s scored and converted a 2-point conversion with 1:38 left to play, De La Salle needed a recovery by junior Bryant Meredith on the ensuing onside kick before the Spartans faithful could relax.
“It looked like we hadn’t played in 15 months,” said De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh - not unexpectedly - in the post game press conference. “Obviously as competitors we want to get better, but St. Mary’s is a good team.”
Among many high school football analysts, the consensus was this matchup of these two perennial Catholic school powers from neighboring CIF sections, De La Salle from the North Coast and St. Mary’s from the Sac-Joaquin, could very well be the top game in Northern California in this abbreviated season. In many ways it lived up to that billing.
Defending CIF Open Division runner-up, North Coast Section Division 1 champion, and Prep2Prep NorCal Preseason top-ranked De La Salle (1-0) racked up 584 yards of total offense - including 308 in the first half - and held St. Mary's to 112 first-half yards. But a 70-5 disadvantage in penalty yardage was a huge factor and De La Salle only led 14-13 at halftime.
“Defensively we had missed assignments, we didn’t tackle well, had a couple of breakdowns on special teams, and then penalties on offense,” Alumbaugh said. “But the effort was there, we were physical up front, we hit well, and our runners ran hard.”
“I’ve got to tell you this is the happiest I’ve been for a really ugly game in the history of my life,” Alumbaugh continued with what likely was a grin hidden beneath his mask. “The penalties and all, it was ugly and looked like we hadn’t played football in over a year. We had limited prep time, practice is shorter, plus we had no film and hadn’t seen them, but the effort was there. Obviously we have to clean some stuff up and we’re going to.”
The Spartans' running game has marched past a lot of opponents during the unbeaten streak, and the key to the St. Mary’s win - besides the physicality of De La Salle - was a ground game that produced some explosive plays mixed in with some timely passing by three-year varsity starter and Sacramento State-bound quarterback Dorian Hale.
Senior running back Mekhi Norfleet had 157 yards rushing on 17 carries with two touchdown runs of 34 yards each. Fellow senior running back Nico Torrez only carried eight times but he racked up 139 yards and two scores, including a 61-yard run that gave De La Salle a late first quarter 7-0 lead.
Hale, who originally had decided to forego his senior season to enroll early in college, completed 11 of 18 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He was sacked once but still managed 62 yards rushing on eight carries.
His 11 completions went to six different receivers with highly regarded junior Zeke Berry leading the way with four receptions for 83 yards.
De La Salle had some defensive gaffes but in the end they made some key stops when they had to and they ended up with eight sacks and two interceptions.
Junior linebacker Damonie Perkins busted through for three and a half sacks and the interception was made by Cal-bound senior defensive back LuMagia Hearns, who like Hale had initially decided to forego his senior season.
With the kind of contributions Hale and Hearns made, one might surmise that without them St. Mary’s certainly would have had a better chance to be the team that broke the unbeaten streak.
As for the Rams (0-1), they more than lived up to their Prep2Prep Northern California Preseason No. 7 ranking. How many of the hundreds of teams De La Salle has faced since their last loss to Pittsburg in the 1991 NCS 3A title game can say they had a legitimate shot to topple Sparta.
It seemed like almost up until the very end when they were unable to recover the onside kick and go for a potential tie, the Rams refused to buckle.
“It was kind of fun,” was the answer of St. Mary’s veteran Coach Tony Franks when asked what it was like to be one of a handful of teams to come close to besting De La Salle. “Lining up for an onside kick where if we can get the ball it could have been really interesting and even more fun if we could have driven downfield, scored and made a two-point conversion.”
“We had to knock off some rust after over 480 days of not playing a game,” continued Franks. “Yes, we’re disappointed it didn’t go our way but when you play a great team like De La Salle at their place on a night like this, everyone feels there’s a certain element of cleansing just to be out there playing, and we’re grateful to have had that opportunity. We didn’t play well enough to win but we played hard.”
The teams traded punts in a somewhat sloppy first quarter before Torrez busted loose for his 61-yard scamper to pay dirt.
St. Mary’s came right back after a 42-yard kickoff return by University of San Diego-bound senior Nick Murray to mount a eight-play, 40-yard drive that culminated in a nine-yard TD pass from junior quarterback Cruz Herrera to sophomore wide receiver Nasari Danielson. But the PAT missed and it was 7-6 De La Salle.
After De La Salle turned it over on downs the Rams struck quickly and took a 13-7 lead with 4:56 left in the half when junior wide receiver Jadyn Marshall faked out a defender and Herrera found him for a 50-yard TD pass.
The question among the few media in attendance at that point was when was the last time anyone can remember the Spartans being behind a team at halftime from north of Fresno during the unbeaten streak? An answer was never needed.
Hearns nearly took it to the house on the ensuing kickoff as his 48-yard return set up De La Salle to retake the lead. After an incompletion, Hale rolled out and found Meredith for a 35-yard touchdown pass with 4:32 left in the half. In just 24 seconds the Spartans went back up 14-13 after two quarters and had a lead it would never relinquish.
When asked what he said to the team in the locker room at the half Alumbaugh mused: “I was calm cool and collected at halftime. I might have raised my voice one or two times and I might have gotten my point across, forcibly a couple of times, but they got the message.”
Torrez's 44-yard touchdown run put De La Salle up 21-13, and when Norfleet scampered 24 yards for a score, the Spartans had a 28-13 lead with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
No-quit St. Mary’s got a six-yard TD run from senior running back Tyrei Washington with 2:43 remaining in the third, but after a failed two-point conversion they faced a 28-19 deficit.
The second 34-yard TD run by Norfleet put De La Salle up 35-19 at the 8:09 mark of the fourth quarter, and from there Alumbaugh started subbing, which may have helped St. Mary’s score its final touchdown.
Even in a loss, there were some bright spots for Franks and his Rams.
Marshall showed why he is considered one of the top junior prospects in California. He had seven catches for 119 yards and the one touchdown. Marshall also had 11 yards rushing.
Murray had an outstanding game. On defense he had 13 tackles, including taking De La Salle’s huge junior tight end Brodie Tagaloa head on and stopping a big gain. On offense he snagged two passes, and on special teams he had two long kickoff returns.
Washington took some hard hits from the De La Salle front line and finished with 48 yards rushing on 13 carries with one touchdown. He also caught three balls for 36 yards and a score.
Franks used two quarterbacks, Herrera and senior Nathan Arnaudo who moved over from tight end. He played quarterback as a sophomore.
Herrera, a transfer from Linden, took some hard shots from the Spartans and suffered seven sacks and the one interception. He did prove to be elusive and would have been sacked even more if not for his escape ability. Herrera ended up with 146 yards on 8-of-17 passing with two touchdowns. With the sacks, and despite some decent runs, he ended up with minus-27 yards rushing but did have the two-point conversion that closed out the scoring.
Arnaudo ended up of 8-of-15 passing for 78 yards with an interception and he was sacked once.
“This game with De La Salle was a nice step forward for our team and we’ve got a ways to go but we’re going to get better,” Franks said. “We’ll be better next week.”
St. Mary’s travels to Carmichael to face Sacramento-area Catholic school power Jesuit next Saturday.
By and large, Alumbaugh was satisfied despite the closeness of the victory.
“We had some open plays that we didn’t execute on but we can tell effort and we can tell physicality and we were physical and the effort was there," Alumbaugh said. "But just being out here today is a win."
Concurrent with the season opener, De La Salle had Senior Night, and with even next week’s game being uncertain under the circumstances, Alumbaugh made sure all his seniors played.
“We were subbing freely and we got every senior in there,” Alumbaugh continued. “We have 75 players on the roster and we got just about everyone in there.”
When asked to sum up the most positive aspect of the game, Alumbaugh was short, sweet, and to the point.
“The joy of being out here, the joy of playing,” Alumbaugh concluded.
De La Salle now faces the Danville teams from the East Bay Athletic League the next two Saturday evenings at home, Monte Vista and then San Ramon Valley.
