De La Salle’s Shamar Garrett grabs one of two interceptions he had during his team’s 14-0 win last season over Folsom. The Bulldogs will host the Spartans this season and there’s a chance the winner will have best record in state for the decade. Photo: Willie Eashman.
How many schools in the state have won 100 or more football games so far in the decade of the 2010s? We have the answer below. Plus, see which schools are moving up on the state record list of those with the most all-time reported wins and on the list of those with the best all-time win-loss records.
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If you’re going by winning percentage, then the top two teams in California since 2010 will play each other on Friday, Sept. 13. That will be when De La Salle of Concord travels to play Folsom in a rematch of a game Folsom lost 14-0 at De La Salle last season.
Sure, De La Salle has had difficulty matching up with either Mater Dei of Santa Ana or St. John Bosco of Bellflower in the last three CIF Open Division state finals, but people tend to forget that both the Monarchs and Braves weren’t close to their current level in the first few years of the decade while the Spartans were in the midst of winning four straight CIF Open Division state crowns from 2009 through 2012.
That’s why De La Salle’s record of 118-8 (compiled with former head coach Bob Ladoucuer until 2012 and then with current head coach Justin Alumbaugh since then) so far this decade is tops in the state. But the Spartans are only one percentage point ahead of Folsom. The Bulldogs have been able to enjoy two 16-0 seasons in just the last five years (2014, 2017) while De La Salle has had its number of games cut down in recent years with the addition of a CIF North Coast Section Open Division.
Joey Yellen was the QB for Mission Viejo last season and led the team to a 10-2 record. Photo: Michael Martinez / SoCalSidelines.com.
Entering the 2019 season, Folsom has a decade record of 125-10 for a 92.6 winning percentage. De La Salle’s is at 93.6 percent. If the Spartans were to lose in their nationally televised game on Aug. 23 to St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida and then if Folsom were able to win in that game between the two on Sept. 13 and still only has 10 losses for the decade, then at that point the Bulldogs also would have the best record in the state for the decade.
Mission Viejo, which hasn’t dropped at all since Chad Johnson took over as head coach for the legendary Bob Johnson two years ago, has the best record in the decade for schools from Southern California. The Diablos have gone 12-1 and 10-2 in Chad Johnson’s first two seasons and since 2010 have a record of 106-12 (89.8 winning percentage).
St. John Bosco has moved up on the decade list, but two years ago had three losses and while those losses were to Mater Dei (twice) and national power Bishop Gorman it’s a list strictly based on wins and losses. Strength of schedule isn’t part of it. Head coach Jason Negro and the Braves so far are a reported 103-17 since 2010. The Monarchs (15-0 in 2017 and 14-1 not counting forfeits in 2018) are at 95-25.
McClymonds of Oakland has now moved up to No. 4 in the state for the decade with an 89.1 winning percentage. The Warriors, who have won three straight CIF state titles in lower divisions, have posted 14-0 and 12-2 seasons for 2017 and 2018.
For most wins in the current decade, Folsom’s 125 is first followed by De La Salle at 118 and then a big gap down to 106 for Mission Viejo and McClymonds plus Marin Catholic of Kentfield. The quarterback who helped the Wildcats post a lot of wins in the early years of the decade, of course, was current Los Angeles Rams’ starter and No. 1 NFL Draft pick Jared Goff.
Other schools with 100 or more reported wins this decade are Oakdale, Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley, St. John Bosco, Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, Central Catholic of Modesto, Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, Centennial of Corona, Campolindo of Moraga, Corona del Mar of Newport Beach, Narbonne of Harbor City, Heritage of Menifee and Citrus Hill of Perris.
Since the 2000 season, De La Salle also has a best record in California of 230-17-1 (probably also No. 1 in the nation). The Spartans are 404-22-2 since 1990 and 470-30-3 since 1980.
Since De La Salle only goes back to the early 1970s, a number of the state’s much older schools have more all-time wins.
As written about in our book, High School Football In California (published last year), the leaders in that department for a long time have been Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly.
Our book was published one year ago and was written so that almost all chapters were timeless. It is now on Amazon.com for less than $10.
Bakersfield has only gone 9-4 and 6-6 in the last two seasons, but the Jackrabbits haven’t made up that much ground since they’ve only gone 9-3 and 8-3.
Considering the years in which Bakersfield played rugby as a substitute for football in the 1910s, the Drillers have a reported 789 wins since 1896. We have the Jackrabbits at 775. Note that forfeit wins and forfeit losses are not counted in any of the Cal-Hi Sports records. It’s only on-the-field results.
If not counting any of those rugby wins, Long Beach Poly is still behind Bakersfield but we have the margin much closer at 777 to 775.
Berkeley High has been the NorCal leader (if you don’t count Bakersfield from the north like we do) for many years and is still No. 3 in the state with 661 reported wins since 1891. But the Yellowjackets have been struggling in recent years (including 0-10 from last season) and may quite soon surrender that bragging point to Palo Alto. The Vikings, under first year head coach Nelson Gifford, went 10-2 last season and are now up to 656 reported all-time wins. They also moved past both Santa Monica and Loyola of Los Angeles on the all-time state list are are now No. 4, right behind Berkeley.
De La Salle’s all-time record since 1972 of 494-71-8 (86.9 winning percent) remains the best in state history but Oaks Christian of Westlake Village isn’t far behind at 86.2 percent. Citrus Hill of Perris also has won 85.0 percent of its games. Both of those schools are newer (Oaks’ first season was 2001 while Citrus Hill’s was 2005) so their percentages can still go up or down a lot with a lower number of games.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
