East Bay Times

DLS earns 31st straight NCS title with win over San Ramon Valley

- By Darren Sabedra dsabedra@bayareanew­sgroup.com

One of San Ramon Valley's all-time great teams got a second chance to beat De La Salle and as they did in an overtime loss at home last month, the Wolves gave the Concord powerhouse all it could handle and then some.

But when it ended Friday night, De La Salle hoisted the North Coast Section 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.

The section championsh­ip was De La Salle's 31st in a row.

“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 14yard 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.”

 ?? JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO – STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? De La Salle's Drew Cunningham holds up the championsh­ip plaque after a win over San Ramon Valley in the NCS Open Division title game.
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO – STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER De La Salle's Drew Cunningham holds up the championsh­ip plaque after a win over San Ramon Valley in the NCS Open Division title game.

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