SACRAMENTO — In its long and storied history, De La Salle rarely has been in this position — heavy, heavy underdog, given virtually no chance to win.
Calpreps.com computer: Mater Dei, 42, De La Salle 17.
Cal-Hi Sports: Mater Dei 45, De La Salle 17
Sacramento Bee: Mater Dei 48, De La Salle 28
But how can De La Salle do the unthinkable — win when nobody thinks it can, rattle and shock a richly-talented opponent that virtually everyone believes is a shoo-in to claim its first state championship?
How can De La Salle be Stanford (circa 2007, vs. USC) or Palo Alto High (circa 2010, vs. Centennial-Corona) and pull off an upset for the ages?
Here are some things that would help:
— The clock has to be De La Salle’s best friend Saturday night. It has to move in chunks — big, fat, where-did-the-time go chunks — almost every time the Spartans have the ball.
That means five-star linebacker Henry To’oto’o has to be a major presence at running back, a defensive weapon on offense. He has to keep the chains moving, 4-5 yards at a time, even if the shiftier Kairee Robinson and Shamar Garrett are back from injury.
“There is no doubt about it, either way, Henry is going to have to do a lot of double duty,” DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “He’s going to get the ball a lot. In this type of game, to be honest, it kind of suits him. He is a big, physical kid. We need our offensive line to get off the ball, and if he’s moving forward, he’s going to pick up some yards for us.”
— Score early but not too early. Given the way the championship game unfolded last season against St. John Bosco, it’s easy to forget that De La Salle scored first. But it wasn’t a clock-eating series that put the Spartans in front. It was a 60-yard burst from Robinson three plays in.
If De La Salle scores first Saturday, the preferred method isn’t a quick-strike. Nope, the Spartans would be much better off with a 15-play, 80-yard, six- or seven-minute slug-fest.
— One path De La Salle cannot travel down is an early scoreboard tilting in Mater Dei’s direction. If that happens, the championship trophy almost certainly won’t be coming back to Concord.
“If we start falling behind, it’s not the identity of our team,” Alumbaugh said. “We want to grind it out.”
— Defend, defend, defend. With two weeks to prepare, De La Salle’s coaching staff is too good to not have a defensive plan in place for this ultra-talented opponent. The players aren’t bad, either. To’oto’o is ranked No. 3 in the state among Class of 2019 prospects by 247Sports. Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, also a junior, is ranked No. 11. Both have offers from Alabama. Defensive lineman Tuli Letuligasenoa, a USC commit, has given the Spartans a tremendous boost since returning from injury in the regular-season finale.
Plus, the secondary has dramatically improved. It returned three interceptions for touchdowns in a rout of then-undefeated San Ramon Valley.
“We had some trouble covering the pass earlier in the year,” Alumbaugh said. “But our defense has shored up.”
If De La Salle can make some stops (turnovers would help), get chummy with the clock and play from ahead, well, bigger shockers than this one would be have happened.
Just ask Stanford.
Serra’s big fella
It was only appropriate that Atonio Mafi hugged coach Patrick Walsh the tightest Friday night after Serra won its first state football championship.
The 6-foot-3, 360-pound two-way lineman has meant so much to Serra’s program and had a great senior season until an Achilles injury ended it in the first of the team’s five postseason games.
During pregame warmups, Mafi predicted that Serra would do well. It did so and more, holding explosive Cajon-San Bernardino to two scores (one on a Hail Mary) in a 38-14 win.
“The boys fought hard,” Mafi, the West Catholic Athletic League’s player of the year, said during the celebration afterward. “Great game.”
Walsh’s perfect words
When Jon Gruden coached the Raiders, he always had a go-to line when questions got too big.
“Let’s not get too deep and philosophical,” he would say.
Well, Patrick Walsh doesn’t do that. He also goes perfectly deep and philosophical.
Addressing his team’s three turnovers Friday night, Walsh said, “It’s kind of fitting of our season of misery. Everything we did, we did it the hard way. I call this team the team of never. We’ve never done this. We’ve never done that. We didn’t have our best football player on the field for the entire playoffs. We lost Moses Tameilau tonight.
“We’ve never won 13 games in a season. Now we’ve erased kind of the big dog — we’ve never won a state championship is now gone.”
WCAL’s first crown
On its seventh try, the WCAL finally has won a state football championship. But Walsh said the victory was more about Serra, not the league.
“It’s a historic league,” Walsh said. “I love the league. I love my colleagues. But this is something to be celebrated inside the walls of Serra High School right now. I said that last year when we lost. We’re not going to wear the banner of losing for the WCAL and or winning it.”
Bottari’s toughness
In football, a common battle cry is toughness. Well, Serra quarterback Luke Bottari is pretty darn tough. The quarterback took an absolutely crushing hit to the midsection while completing a first-half deep pass to Isiah Kendrick on Friday. He tried to get back up, went back down and needed medical assistance before returning to the sideline.
The quarterback returned after one play and finished the game.
“All the work that we’ve put in, it’s an amazing feeling to be on top,” Bottari said. “That was one of the biggest hits of my career. That was a really athletic team. They were really sound everywhere. All respect to them, for sure.”
HMB: Is 15-0 in cards?
Half Moon Bay’s dream season has one more stop. The Cougars will play Saturday night more than 500 miles from home, aiming to win their first state championship and complete an undefeated season.
Hayden Von Alman is part of this special team and special group of seniors. As with all of them, he already has memories that will last a lifetime, including the regional championship win at home last Saturday over Sutter.
“Never take anything for granted with our guys,” Von Almen said Monday. “We just learned so much throughout the years and with a great coaching staff. We’ve learned to cherish it and play our hardest every week. It’s been unreal. It’s really special.
“Walking out of the locker room (last week), I’ve been walking out of that locker room and walking down to that football field — that same locker room, that same little trail down — since I was 7 years old, Pop Warner. Just walking out for the last time, I just remember I looked around and soaked it all in. Looked at the sun set. Once we hit the field, I just cherished it.”
Saturday night, Half Moon Bay can complete the perfect run when it plays Steele Canyon-Spring Valley at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.
