San Francisco Chronicle

De La Salle gets Folsom again

- By Mitch Stephens SBLive Sports senior editor Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle.

For years, the Folsom High football team was the upstart, a rising Sac-Joaquin Section powerhouse from Sacramento County, hoping to compete with the national juggernaut that De La Salle-Concord had become.

Finally with state-championsh­ip-caliber teams that could compete, the Bulldogs couldn't — not quite then — losing to the Spartans 49-15 in 2012 and 45-17 in 2013 in regional Open Division finals.

But after three closer head-tohead losses to De La Salle (14-0, 42-27 and 31-10), visiting Folsom ended De La Salle's season last year, winning 28-27 in the CIF Division 1-AA North Region title game.

“That was brutal to watch from the sideline,” said De La Salle captain Derek Thompson, a two-way lineman who injured a leg in that game.

This season, on the uptick after a loss to Serra in September, Folsom beat the Spartans again at home, 24-20. Dealing with a rash of injuries, De La Salle lost the following week to St. Mary'sStockton to drop to 3-3.

Since then, De La Salle has won six straight and now has a chance to beat the team that largely knocked it from its perch.

This time, the Spartans (9-3) travel to Folsom (12-1) in the same Division 1-AA North Region title game as last year. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Friday.

They have a 4-star junior quarterbac­k in 6-foot-6 Austin Mack (258-for-363 for 3,370 yards and 40 touchdowns) and a defense that gave up fewer than 250 yards to the Spartans last time.

On a 4th-and-goal from the 1, Mack got over the goal line — barely — with 17 seconds left in that Sept. 23 win.

“The team as a whole can't wait for the rematch,” Thompson said. “They have beat our class the last two times, so we are excited to have another change to avenge those losses. Especially on their field.”

Thompson, a 6-2, 290-pound senior , has been one of at least a dozen De La Salle players who missed time this season. Almost all are back now, including Fresno State-bound running back Charles Greer, All-Metro defensive lineman Chase Tofaeono and Notre Dame-bound tight end Cooper Flanagan.

Folsom is missing Notre Dame-bound wide receiver-safety Rico Flores, who broke his foot two weeks ago. His replacemen­t, Brian Ray III, has responded in a big way with 25 catches for 328 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games.

“I feel bad for Rico. I really do,” Thompson said. “I wish both teams could play each other completely healthy. That would be a crazy game.

“This is one of the best rivalries in California high school football and it should be another great game.”

Folsom coach Paul Doherty said his team's 28-27 win last season was fueled by its loss to De La Salle earlier in the season. Now, the Spartans have that fuel.

Said Thompson: “This is the game we have been working toward since our losses to them. We're excited to leave it all out on the field.”

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