Win gives Spartans their 26th NCS title

It has been a different kind of season for the De La Salle High School football team. Yes, the Spartans are 11-1 after Saturday night’s 24-7 win over Pittsburg in the North Coast Section Open Division championship game at Dublin High. That’s 26 consecutive NCS titles for De La Salle.

The Spartans likely will face Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division bowl game.

But earlier this year, coach Justin Alumbaugh called his team a “hot mess.” The Spartans seemed to right the ship in the second half of the season, but now De La Salle is getting hammered by injuries. Star running back Kairee Robinson sat out Saturday’s game with an injured foot. Defensive lineman/tight end Luke Freeman was out with an injured knee. And sophomore Shamar Garrett, who started the game as the lead back in Robinson’s absence, ended the night on crutches with a foot injury.

Henry To’oto’o rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown to lead De La Salle to the win. To’oto’o, a star linebacker, came into the year not expecting to run the ball much, but has ended up becoming a dependable part of the running game.

Said Alumbaugh, “He’s our best guy. He’s carried our offense for a long time. I thought our offensive line picked up the slack. The guys that we had in, they ran hard. But Kairee’s Kairee for a reason. He’s a dynamic player. He’s one of the better running backs we’ve ever had at our school and we’ve had a lot of running backs.”

Garrett went out in the third quarter after rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. De La Salle rushed for 342 yards on the night.

On the other side, the Spartans dominated the Pirates (8-2). Pittsburg only had 228 yards in total offense and struggled to get the running game going. De La Salle had six sacks as well.

In the end, even if the year was a little different, it has ended up where it always seems to end up: with an NCS title and a berth in a CIF bowl game.

Pittsburg coach Vic Galli said he was proud of his team.

“They need to hold their heads up because they played a hell of a football game,” he said. “They were in it the whole time.”