DUBLIN – De La Salle captured its 31st consecutive North Coast Section championship on Friday night, but it’s hard to imagine any of them being more difficult than this one against San Ramon Valley.
The Wolves, as they did last month in an overtime loss to De La Salle, gave the Concord powerhouse all it could handle and then some.
But when it ended, DLS hoisted the Open Division championship trophy after a 17-7 victory, an outcome decided when quarterback Toa Faavae scored on two keepers around the left side in the fourth quarter to erase what had been a four-point deficit.
While his teammates celebrated in the middle of the Dublin High field, Faavae, a spiritual person, took a moment to himself on the sideline to say a prayer.
“We knew we needed something to happen,” Faavae said. “Something to get the momentum going.”
De La Salle (10-2) will now advance to a NorCal regional in two weeks. Its opponent will be announced on Nov. 26.
SRV, as the Open runner-up, will return to Dublin High next Friday to play Pittsburg for the section’s Division I title and a second regional berth.
“We’ve got to put this one behind us as fast as we can,” SRV coach Aaron Becker said. “Realize there is still an opportunity ahead of us to do something great.”
The Wolves (10-2) almost took advantage of their opportunity on Friday.
They took a 7-3 lead late in the first half and still held that advantage when a punt pinned De La Salle back to its 7 with 3:39 left in the third quarter
But as Faavae noted, the momentum finally turned.
On a night when middle linebacker Marco Jones dominated for SRV, punishing seemingly every DLS ballcarrier, the Spartans put together a 13-play drive for what turned out to be the decisive touchdown.
Derrick Blanche converted two third downs before Faavae scored on a 15-yard run to finish the 93-yard drive and give DLS a 10-7 lead with 9:42 left.
“Block 23 is what I was thinking,” DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh said, referring to Jones. “We tried to go real simple and ultimately rely on our physicality and get downhill and pick a couple of times to use Toa’s legs. That works.”
SRV’s ensuing possession lasted five snaps, ending when quarterback Luke Baker unsuccessfully tried to move the chains with a pass from his own 46 while one of his legs was being tugged by a defender.
DLS got the ball with 8:23 on the clock and did what championship teams do. The Spartans went on a game-clinching drive, with Blanche’s runs converting two fourth downs, the last with just over two minutes to play.
After his four-yard run on fourth-and-3, Blanche ran for 12 yards to give DLS another first down. That set up Faavae’s 14-yard run to the end zone that made it 17-7 with 1:24 left.
“We work on that every week in practice,” Blanche said. “We work so hard for moments like these and games like these. When we get to that moment, this is what we’re trained to do. We just executed once again.”
A month ago, DLS survived on the road in overtime to beat SRV 33-27.
This time, it was clear from the outset that the story of the rematch would be defense.
“That might be one of the best defensive games we’ve played in a lot of years,” Becker said. “It was absolutely phenomenal.”
De La Salle went ahead 3-0 on a 21-yard field goal by Finn Sepic with 4:46 left before the break. The Spartans drove inside the 10 but stalled at the 4.
San Ramon Valley answered with a methodical 82-yard drive that included runs by Matthew Garibaldi and ended with a 32-yard strike down the right sideline from Baker to Evan Economos that put the Wolves in front 7-3 with 24 seconds left until the break.
The score didn’t change until Faavae’s big fourth quarter. He finished with 132 yards in 10 carries. Blanche added 90 yards in 21 attempts.
DLS held SRV to 54 yards rushing and 99 passing.
Both teams were missing players to injury, most notably receiver Owen Scott for SRV and lineman Matthew Johnson for DLS.
But they played another classic as DLS continued its unbeaten streak against NCS opponents at least until next season.
The Spartans are 270-0-1 within their section since their last loss in 1991.
“We laid it all out there,” said Jones, who had an interception. “I think it definitely showed. But things happen. It is what it is. We’ve just got to put it in the past and move on to the next week.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com