Grant shows fight against De La Salle, but falls after difficult week on campus
After a regretfully eventful week that included a campus fight involving members of the football team Tuesday, the Grant Pacers’ game against powerhouse De La Salle went forward as planned Friday night, with head coach Carl Reed coming away encouraged about his team despite losing 47-20.
“We’re a resilient team,” Reed said. “Things happen that are out of our control. But I think what we showed is, we’re going to come back, we’re going to play and we’re going to play hard.”
Tuesday’s incident involved people unaffiliated with the school targeting a player in an altercation leading to a campus lockdown. It led to talk of the game being moved to De La Salle’s campus in Concord but it went on as planned at Mike Alberghini Field in Del Paso Heights.
The atmosphere perhaps wasn’t as raucous as the match-up between elite Northern California programs deserved. The Pacers (2-3) were coming in having already lost twice, to Folsom and Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa, and were working without starting quarterback Shiren Crump.
De La Salle (4-0), one of the top-ranked teams in the state with eyes on another deep postseason run, helped quiet the Pacers typically energetic crowd by getting out to a 28-0 lead in the first half behind a pair of touchdowns from North Carolina commit Jaden Jefferson and two scoring runs from quarterback Brayden Knight.
But Grant battled back behind sophomore quarterback Tavio Rios, who was replacing Crump, and made it 34-14 thanks to a Thorne Watson touchdown with 10 seconds left in the first half. The Pacers made it a 14-point game with a 26-yard touchdown reception to star pass catcher Rahzario “Zo” Edwards to open the third quarter.
That was as close as the home team got, with the Spartans taking advantage of three turnovers, including a pair of interceptions by safety Jelani Dyer.
The three touchdowns allowed by De La Salle were more points than the team had given up all year. The Spartans were coming off back-to-back shutouts against Saint Francis and Junipero Serra, leading to coaches imploring players postgame that the defensive performance Friday night wasn’t up to their elite standard if the team wants to win its seventh CIF Open Division State Championship since 2009.
“I thought our defense showed up like they had earned something,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “And they acted like it week long in practice. We told them all week, Grant is big up front, they got really good athletes. You’re gonna have a quarterback who can get them the ball, and that’s what they are. They’re a great program. ... We didn’t prepare in a way that I thought was acceptable. And it showed, defensively especially.”
For Grant, Rios made plays outside the pocket and was able to connect with his athletic receivers on a handful of plays downfield, including the touchdowns to Edwards and Dlo Knight.
De La Salle running back Duece Jones-Drew, the son of former NFL star running back and Spartans assistant Maurice, had two touchdown runs late in the game despite dealing with a lower leg injury.
Things won’t get easier for Grant as they are scheduled to travel to San Diego to take on powerhouse Lincoln, adding to their list of elite opponents in non-conference play before opening Metropolitan League play against Destiny Christian Academy on Oct. 3. De La Salle next week takes on St. Mary’s of Stockton at home.
This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 11:02 PM.
