De La Salle keeps Sacramento unbeaten streak alive with business-like win over Folsom
The home team had a giant blown-up bulldog to run through, a smoke machine and hyped-up crowd. Players were bouncing around and encouraging each other, doing things high school football players do to get up for big games.
The visiting opponent marched to the far sideline quietly. There wasn’t any jumping around.
But the play from De La Salle was far from quiet. They beat the top-ranked Folsom Bulldogs on their home field Friday night with a business-like approach despite the game being between two of the best teams Northern California had to offer.
The Spartans, the national power from Concord, traveled 92 miles east to deliver a 31-10 victory to give head coach Justin Alumbaugh’s program its third straight win over Folsom since 2018. Their winning streak over Sac-Joaquin Section programs grew to 45-0 since 1982.
As is customary, there wasn’t much flare from the De La Salle. The Spartans utilized their signature veer offense, overpowering Folsom in the trenches while getting big plays from highly recruited prospects. They controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the night and only needed a handful of passes to secure the three-touchdown win.
“A kick return, a stop and a touchdown,” said Alumbaugh. “That’s a great way to start a game.”
Indeed, De La Salle’s dominance started on the first play when four-star University of Arizona recruit Zeke Berry took the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. It zapped the pregame energy right out of the stadium.
Said Alumbaugh: ”If the ball gets in Zeke’s hands, there’s a good chance that something good is going to happen. And there was blocking in front of him.”
The Spartans’ defense forced a turnover on downs on Folsom’s opening possession and went the other way with a long touchdown run from quarterback Luke Dermon on an option play. De La Salle never trailed in the game after jumping out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.
“We respect how good they are at what they do,” Folsom receiver Rico Flores said. “They don’t make mistakes. They hit you. They make plays. We had to protect our quarterback and we didn’t do that enough. They’re so tough to deal with.”
The Spartans, who had lost two of their last three to Saint Francis (Mountain View) and St. Frances Academy (Baltimore), play many of the best teams in the country, given their standing as one of nation’s top programs. And Alumbaugh had high praise for Folsom, who entered the weekend 3-0 in the Sierra Foothill League and atop the rankings in Northern California.
“We faced a lot of really good teams and they (Folsom) can compete with pretty much everybody that we’ve come across,” Alumbaugh said. “That’s a good team. That’s a really good team.”
There were 5,000 tickets sold while hundreds more stood around the field at Prairie City Stadium. The home side featured a raucous student section that spent much of the game in party mode despite the score. The visiting bleachers were full, but far more restrained. There was an occasional bass drum and cheer from the spirit group.
Otherwise, the visiting crowd had the same business-like approach of the team it was there to support, despite it being the biggest game of the week in Northern California.
“I was really happy with our defensive effort,” Alumbaugh said. “Our offense was like watching paint dry, but that’s what I wanted to do, to be honest. Keep the ball in our hands, take shots when we wanted to. I wanted to take a couple more shots but out defense was doing a really good job and I didn’t want to put them in a bad situation.”
One of the shots was a deep pass to 6-foot-5 tight end Cooper Flanagan, the No. 15 recruit in California, who committed to Notre Dame and also had a strip sack playing defensive end. Flanagan’s touchdown came on the third passing attempt of the game for Folsom — which didn’t come until the third quarter. Flanagan streaked open through the middle of the field on a play-action fake, and needed all of his speed to chase down Dermon’s pass.
“Flanagan was almost cramping before we ran that Y-Pop and I was like, ‘Oh man, I hope he’s not too tired,’ said Alumbaugh.
The Spartans (4-2) next week will host California of San Roman while the Bulldogs (6-1) will have a road game at undefeated Rocklin.
