BERKELEY, Calif. — As one team celebrated immensely — skipping, jumping, embracing like school kids — the other walked dejectedly to midfield for the proverbial handshake line.
The joyous bunch, the football team of De La Salle-Concord, looked like it had just won a state title. And, at the same time, also had a giant boulder lifted from its collective shoulders.
The disappointed squad, Corona Centennial, the state preseason No. 1 ranked team, had more of a quizzical gander, as if “how could this happen again?”
All was a result of De La Salle’s resounding and resilient 35-32 win at Cal’s Memorial Stadium Saturday late in the afternoon in a game that not only featured more than a dozen future college players, but had the skill and vibrato of a Division 1 college game.
With Cal coach Tosh Lupoi, a 2000 De La Salle graduate walking both sidelines, the back-and-forth affair featured 917 yards, 43 first downs, five touchdowns each, five which went more than 25 yards and three that surpassed 58.
The difference really was a missed extra point and two two-point conversion points that failed, all by the hard-luck Huskies (2-3), who despite holding a 496-421 yardage lead dropped their third game this season by a combined five points.
All three games were to Top 25 national teams.
This one was the best-played of the three and came down to an emphatic fourth-down solo tackle at the Centennial 40 by San Jose State-bound Zion Cadet of all-everything, do-anything quarterback Jaden Jefferson, the Hawaii commit who had accounted for 392 yards (70 on the ground) and four total touchdowns.
- HISTORY LESSON | Corona Centennial vs. De La Salle
The stop came with a little less than two minutes to play and with no timeouts, Centennial had to just watch the Spartans (5-0) run out the clock for undoubtedly their biggest win since the last time the teams met, a 28-21 De La Salle victory at Sacramento State for the 2015 CIF State Open Division title.
Eleven years later, the teams met again in the inagural 151 Football Showcase.
“This was definitely one of the greatest games I’ve ever witnessed and definitely the greatest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Cadet said. “I will definitely be telling my grandkids about this game.”
Likewise. And I’m much closer to that happening than Cadet.
1. As good as it gets
It’s definitely a top 10 in my 43 years as a high school sports writer, most of which have included either De La Salle or Centennial, and a couple that included both. Though De La Salle has won five of six meetings, four have been one score games, another was 48-28 (2012) and the other 63-42 (2014) both in favor of De La Salle for state titles. Centennial’s only state title came at the hands of the Spartans, in 2008, a 21-16 nail-bitter.
In fact, this was the first not played for a state crown, though De La Salle, losers of eight straight games to Southern Section opponents by an average margin of 22 points, treated and celebrated it like a state title game.
- INSTANT CLASSIC | De La Salle 35, Corona Centennial 32
“This was a statement game no doubt,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “We weren’t hiding that coming into the game.”
Unlike most of the seven straight state-tile losses for the Spartans — they’ve also won a state-record seven of them — this game was utterly competitive which is what Alumbaugh and De La Salle fans were hopeful for, but a little skeptical.
“I was honestly just hoping we’d play a very competitive, physical game period,” Alumbaugh said. “The fact the boys pulled out the win, I’m not going to lie, it feels great.”
Here are 4 more takes from a clean, competitive contest played in front of close to 10,000 fans on a perfectly warm and sun-shining event.
Marin Catholic of nearby Kentfield upset defending state 2-AA champion, 21-7 in the first game as junior QB Dylan Skrinar accounted for three touchdowns, including passes to Rowan Albin and Carter Matza.
2. Duece on the loose
Duece Jones-Drew has had so much to navigate as a fourth-year running back and track athlete for the Spartans. His father Maurice, a former star for the Spartans during their 151-game win streak (which the Showcase is named after), UCLA and the NFL, also is an assistant coach for De La Salle. He’s helped out at quarterbacks and the line, but never the running backs. Can be a conflict of interest.
But father is super chill and not in the head of son, whose very first carry for the Spartans was a 63-yard touchdown run against Grant of Sacramento as a sophomore. He missed his freshman season due to a shoulder injury and frankly, over two seasons hasn’t had to put up big numbers. In fact, much of the damage has been as a cornerback.
But this season, Alumbaugh made no bones that Jones-Drew would be the workhorse back and with just 25 carries through four games, three blowout wins, that wasn’t really the case. It was on Saturday and Jones-Drew delivered with 29 carries for 211 yards and three touchdowns, all career bests. His 59-yarder to answer a 70-yard TD bomb from Jefferson to Jaden Bynum was the key. It was far and away the best game I had witnessed him playing, and shows the speedy 5-9, 180-pounder is ready for his future at UCLA, where he committed to in the spring.
A statement game by the Spartans was perhaps upstaged by the shout-out game for Jones-Drew, a humble and friendly sort, who gave it all up to his line and teammates. Though tighter than tight with his dad, he said he was in no way trying to out-perform Maurice’s 19-carry, 161-yard effort at Cal in 2002 when the Spartans beat Long Beach Poly, 28-7. “That wasn’t on my mind at all,” Duece told Bay Area News Group’s Darren Sabedra. “This was just a big game for all of us, a big opportunity,” he said. “Overall it was a good team win.”
3. There will be a rematch. … This season!
Yes, for the state Open title. The three losses mean nothing other than national rankings for the Huskies, who are now more battle-tested than ever. And likely will play the rest of the season with a big chip.
Though the passing combination of Jefferson to USC commit Quentin Hale (6 catches, 85 yards, one touchdown) was once again impressive — Hale did have a couple of drops, both potentially for touchdowns — we didn’t realize the receiving weapons in Jaden Bynum (70-yard TD on the second play of the game) and manchild Gavin Lorge (7 catches, 92 yards) gives the Huskies complete firepower.
To go with the rushing combo of Braylin Drake, another absolute load at 6-foot, 220, and dynamic junior Malaki Davis (907 yards rushing, 19 touchdowns as a sophomore). When their best all-around player, Washington safety commit Jaden Walk-Green, returns,
Centennial will be champing at the bit to hand the giddy Spartans a taste of their own celebratory juice. Though Pittsburg, San Ramon Valley, Serra and defending state champions Folsom (1-AA) and Central East-Fresno (1-A) all are formidable, De La Salle appears too deep, fast and motivated to get back to winning a state Open title.
They’ll represent the North again in the top division at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo on Dec. 12.
4. Damari Dean isn’t just a sprinter/jumper
The long and strong 6-2, 180-pound De La Salle receiver ran bests of 10.32 in the 100 meters and 20.92 in the 200 last spring and placed second at state in the long jump (24 feet, 2 inches), but clearly he has a future in football.
We’ve heard very normally cautious coaches already, barring injury, pencil him to play on Sundays. Amongst two star-studded rosters, he definitely was a standout with four catches and 130 yards — the most by a De La Salle receiver since 2018 — two of which for 114 came on trick plays.
5. Speaking of Trick Plays…these two decided it
The two called by the Spartans — a crazy looking fake punt “pass” from kicker/punter Johnny Borba went for 49 yards to set up a touchdown and the other a 65-yard TD pass from backup quarterback top junior linebacker recruit Landon Miller in the second quarter really turned out to be the difference in this one.
Longtime defensive coordinator Terry Eidson, who along with legendary coach Bob Ladouceur (who offered up the coin flip) were the main characters in the book/movie “When the Game Stands Tall,” devised the fake punt which Alumbaugh said the Spartans had practiced for a couple weeks. They hadn’t worked real smooth in practice, but Eidson told Alumbaugh at halftime it was wide open. And indeed was to start the second half when the Spartans looked like they were going three-and-out.
Instead Borba chest-passed it to Dean, who was barely touched en route to the 49-yard gain. A couple plays later, Judah Pape powered it in for a 7-yard touchdown to take a 35-25 lead in the middle of the third. Despite a 44-yard TD bomb from Jefferson to Hale, both defenses held the rest of the way, capped by Cadet’s game-sealing solo tackle.
“I believe we made the statement that we can compete with any team in the nation,” Cadet said.
Classy, 309-win Centennial coach Matt Logan could attest to that and despite his team’s three losses, he believes his team is “right there” as well.
Afterall, the other defeats were to national No. 4 Santa Margarita (21-20) and No. 15 Mater Dei (10-9). De La Salle is No. 22 in the High School On SI Power 25 national rankings.
“It was truly a great high school football game,” Logan said. “I’m sure people around here enjoyed watching it. Both teams played super hard but we just made a few more errors than they did. It came down to that. … What people don’t realize is that we’re still a young, inexperienced football team. But we’re right there. It’s still a work in process., Everything we want to experience is right in front of us.”
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