Players from De La Salle of Concord celebrate after receiving CIF North Coast Section championship flag and plaque. Spartans have now won 39 section titles. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The Pirates took a 7-3 lead into the fourth quarter, but came out on the short end of a 10-7 loss to De La Salle of Concord in Friday’s CIF North Coast Section Open Division championship. The Spartans (12-0) no doubt clinched the Northern California berth in the CIF Open Division state final to be held in three weeks at Saddleback College (and probably against national No. 1 Mater Dei). We have all of the state record updates for DLS plus add some details about the Monarchs and state No. 2 St. John Bosco both winning on Friday to set up yet another clash between them for the CIF Southern Section D1 crown.
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It was a watery mess at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill on Friday night, but anytime De La Salle of Concord is playing in a CIF North Coast Section championship, this time in the Open Division, and especially when it seems like the opponent, in this case Pittsburg, has a really good chance to win, there’s no doubt that any prep writer/historian absolutely has to be there.
We were not alone in thinking that way, despite rain that was forecast for throughout the evening and rain it did. It was only when the game was over when it had turned into a light drizzle. Our friends Mitch Stephens (SB Live) & Darren Sabedra (Bay Area News Group) were there along with Robert Braunstein of the Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area TV Show. And for the first three quarters, it sure looked like state No. 8 Pittsburg had the No. 5 Spartans right where they wanted them. They couldn’t extend a 7-3 lead on several possessions in the second half, however, and then the DLS offense finally broke through for a 35-yard TD run by Dominic Kelley and then after another fourth quarter stop it was Kelley who took over the game with several back-breaking first down runs.
The Spartans actually killed the final 7:46 of the game to get a 10-7 win. They notched their final first down on the 1-yard line on a 10-yard run by Kelley with two minutes left that at first most thought was a touchdown. With no timeouts, Pittsburg couldn’t do anything but watch the Spartans take three straight kneel-downs that ended the game.
Dominic Kelley gets a hug from longtime DLS assistant coach and former athletic director Terry Eidson after game he had vs Pittsburg. Photo: Mark Tennis.
De La Salle thus did not have its state record for consecutive section titles end at 31. Instead, the streak has been extended to 32. Pittsburg was the last NCS team to defeat the Spartans in an NCS title game or in any game in 1991 at the Oakland Coliseum in which we were there. The Spartans also won their 39th section title overall and have moved two in front of Bakersfield on that all-time list. The Drillers did not win in their attempt to win their 38th on Friday in the CIF Central Section D1-A final in a loss to Frontier of Bakersfield.
Another state record that De La Salle has set actually occurred last week when it played in the first round of the NCS playoffs. It was the program’s 42nd consecutive playoff appearance and broke the state record of 41 that ended in 2022 at La Mirada of the CIF Southern Section.
It also was the second straight year that the Spartans were trailing 7-3 in the NCS Open final heading into the fourth quarter. The opponent last season was not Pitt even though it was undefeated since league rival San Ramon Valley had pushed DLS into an overtime matchup earlier in the season. The Spartans won 17-7.
“We pride ourselves on our conditioning and physicality,” said De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh, who personally won his 11th straight NCS title (there was no section playoffs in the pandemic season). “We were moving the ball, outside of when we were just dropping it on the ground. We were hitting and that has a way of wearing teams out and can ultimately turn a game in the fourth quarter in your favor, if you stick with it.”
San Ramon Valley’s season was not over after last year’s section final and neither is Pitt’s. The two played a year ago in the NCS D1 championship with the Pirates winning, 37-21, before they lost to Folsom in the CIF NorCal D1-A championship. They will play again next Friday for the same D1 title after the Wolves (only loss to De La Salle 42-14) slugged it out for a 7-0 win on Friday over Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.
“We weren’t preparing for this season just to play De La Salle,” said Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez. “We were preparing to win a state championship. So now we’re just going in a different direction. That’s how they’re going to be able to shift on Monday.”
Both teams went on long scoring drives on their first possessions. The Spartans got as far as the Pitt 17-yard line, but two negative plays forced them to go for a field goal, which was good from 32 yards out by Justin Uribarri. It was a 16-play drive. The Pirates immediately responded. They marched down the field and the first quarter ended with them facing a fourth down and half-a-yard to go start the second quarter. Washington State-bound running Jamar Searcy then came through with a 14-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 lead.
No team was able to score in the second quarter, but there was one play that had a lot of people talking. Dominick Calhoun came up with an interception for Pittsburg on a DLS pass attempt and raced back down the field before he was tackled at around the 30-yard line. He was hit and fumbled at the end of that play — replays could have called it that he was down before fumbling — and De La Salle recovered with a new possession on its own 27-yard line. The half ended after De La Salle’s Uribarri missed a field goal from 42 yards out after one that he had made from 36 yards was wiped off the scoreboard by a penalty. Searcy also had two big runs for Pitt to get the Pirates close for a last-second pass but Marley Alcantara threw incomplete.
Alcantara and the Pitt coaches must have noticed the scrambling of Stockton St. Mary’s junior Jaden Galvan from an earlier game in which the Rams only lost to the Spartans 35-31. Alcantara had several scrambles for first downs in the first half and in the second half. Pitt took the second half kickoff and drove to the De La Salle 22-yard line. The Pirates got no points on the drive, though, when Anthony Morgan of the Spartans was able to fall on a fumble.
De La Salle then fumbled on two of its next four plays. After the first one, the Spartan defense rose to push back the Pirates and got a fourth down stop on its 31. After the second one, freshman Kenny Ward came up with a big catch from Alcantara for a first and goal to the 10-yard line. Again, the DLS defense responded. Matthew Baumgartner had a tackle for loss, Matthew Johnson charged through for a sack and Pitt was stopped on downs.
The DLS offense then got revved up, beginning with a 30-yard run by sprinter, defensive back, kick returner Justin Jefferson. Kelley took over from there and broke through for his 35-yard touchdown.
Jamar Searcy had the only TD of the game for the Pirates on a 14-yard run in the second quarter. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Pittsburg obviously still had plenty of time to get back down the field and win the game. Alcantara tried to scramble for another first down on a third and 10, but was forced out of bounds about four yards short. There was still more than seven minutes on the clock so going for it on fourth down at that point in the game didn’t make sense. The problem is that De La Salle is known for time-killing drives to end games. That’s exactly what the Spartans did. Kelley had a huge first down run with 2:39 left and then with two minutes left he had the plunge down to the 1-yard line.
For the game, Kelley, who also went past 2,000 yards for his career, finished with 171 yards rushing. Teammate Derrick Blanche added 76 yards. The Spartans did not attempt a pass in the second half and didn’t complete one for the game. Alcantara only had 78 yards passing in the wet conditions. Searcy, who also made plays on defense, had 123 yards rushing for the game.
In the end, it more of a showcase for Kelley, who added his name to the De La Salle pantheon of stars who will be talked about for years to come about what he did in an NCS championship.
“I told (Dominic) last Saturday after our San Marin (Novato) game, I was like ‘Hey buddy, I know how this game is going to go down and this ain’t gonna be a five carry game for you, you understand?” Alumbaugh said. “He’s such a big, strong kid, just handing him the ball in conditions like this behind our offensive line. It’s a good recipe for us.”
JuJu Walls was especially impressive for the Pittsburg defense as the UCLA commit had several tackles for loss. The Pirates indeed were just a play or two away from making history.
“We haven’t lost to another NCS team other than to De La Salle since I want to say 2018,” Ramirez said. “We just want to keep that energy going and that’s what we’re going to do.”
MATER DEI, ST. JOHN BOSCO WIN IN CIFSS D1 SEMIFINALS
We always say the state has been in an era of dominance by the football programs of Mater Dei and St. John Bosco since the 2016 season. Teams in the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs are getting closer — Bosco only won by one point in last year’s semifinals — but on Friday the matchup of the two super powers in next Friday’s CIFSS D1 championship at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach was set up once again as both won in semifinal games.
Mater Dei faced a Corona Centennial team that was averaging 45 points per game and had gotten past unbeaten Mission Viejo, 25-20, in its previous game. The Monarchs also suffered an injury issue as senior QB Dash Beierly had to come out of the game in the second quarter and did not return. With their defense, though, it doesn’t matter. Possibly the best defense in high school football history (we won’t say it’s for sure until all the games are played) came up with an interception return touchdown by Daryus Dickson plus three other turnovers and led MD to a 36-7 win. Furian Inferrera replaced Beierly and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt with seconds left before halftime for a 22-7 lead.
St. John Bosco faced a Lutheran of Orange team it had to rally to beat 28-24 in the regular season. This time, it was more of a back-and-forth contest that the Braves won, 20-17. A T.J. Lateef touchdown pass with four minutes left gave the Lancers some hope as it cut into a 20-10 lead. The Braves, however, then ran out the clock. Freshman QB Koa Malau’ulu had 182 yards passing for Bosco and scored on a 39-yard run in the second quarter. Sophomore RB Maliq Allen also rushed for 92 yards on 16 carries with one TD.
It will be the seventh meeting between the two schools in the CIFSS D1 final since 2016. They have split in those six games since then with Mater Dei winning in 2017, 2018 and 2023 and with Bosco winning in 2016, 2019 and 2022. There was no CIFSS final in 2020 and in 2021 it was Mater Dei winning the title in a matchup with Servite of Anaheim.
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
