De La Salle routs Long Beach Poly 52-6
De La Salle routs Long Beach Poly 52-6
For fans, photographers and videographers alike, De La Salle’s 18-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to start the third quarter was anything but pretty.
[...] to the Spartans’ coaching staff after a sloppy first half, it was a Monet.
“It was old-school De La Salle,” head coach Justin Alumbaugh said following a 52-6 dismantling of Long Beach Poly on Friday night at Owen Owens Field in Concord.
The teams were playing for the first time in 13 years, but the Spartans (6-1) beat Poly, a program that has produced the most players to make it to the NFL, for the third straight time.
The two nationally recognized programs had epic battles in 2001 and 2002, also won by De La Salle 29-15 and 28-7.
De La Salle, ranked 17th nationally by MaxPreps, blew the doors off this one after Anthony Sweeney capped the opening third-quarter drive with a 1-yard sneak.
The Spartans had six first downs on the drive, which chewed up 6 minutes, 45 seconds and put them up 30-6.
The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Poly, which played without four-star quarterback Malik Henry (undisclosed injury), managed a mere 83 yards and three first downs.
“Our defense played great,” said Custer, who also started at defensive back.
The Spartans missed numerous tackles in a season-opening 26-21 loss in Texas to Trinity-Euless.
“I thought we played really hard tonight,” Alumbaugh said.
When you play that hard, you can overlook some mistakes.
The sloppiness started from the get-go for the Spartans, who lost fumbles on their first two possessions.
[...] Poly (5-2) couldn’t take advantage either time, and after a short punt, 4-star tight end Devin Asiasi hauled in an 18-yard scoring toss from Sweeney, making it 7-0 with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
A sensational 35-yard reception by Isaiah Randle set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Custer for a 14-0 lead with 10:58 left in the half.
De La Salle committed its third turnover on an interception by middle linebacker Amanaki Vaea at the DLS 15.
After a sack and a penalty, the Jackrabbits were called for a hold in the end zone for a safety, giving De La Salle a 16-0 lead with 5:08 left in the half.
After the Spartans saw a touchdown called back due to penalty, Sweeney connected on his second TD pass to Asiasi, this one for 19 yards with 1:25 left in the half.
A two-point conversion failed and Poly’s Aaron Shampklin returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Jackrabbits a glimmer of hope.
De La Salle had 254 total yards through two quarters.
Isaiah Floyd rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another as visiting Foothill (8-0, 4-0) took a major step toward clinching the East Bay Athletic League title.
Monte Vista (5-2, 2-1), which got two TD passes from Jake Haener, fought back from a 21-0 deficit.
#5 St. Francis 28, Sacred Heart Cathedral 21: A 50-yard touchdown run by Cyrus Habibi-Likio late in the third quarter broke a 21-21 tie for the host Lancers (6-0, 3-0 West Catholic Athletic League).
Habibi-Likio scored on a 43-yard run to tie the game at 21-21 earlier in the quarter.
Jamar Williams-Sheppard had a 63-yard touchdown and Ronan Murphy two TD passes for Sacred Heart Cathedral (1-5, 0-3).
Alabama-bound running back Najee Harris rushed for four touchdowns as the Panthers (7-0, 2-0 Bay Valley Athletic League) raced to a 24-3 lead en route to a homecoming victory.
Ronnie Rivers and Isaiah Williams had TD runs for Freedom (3-4, 0-2).
Cros Chavez rushed for two scores and Michael Pyle threw for two as visiting Milpitas (5-2, 3-0) took control of the SCVAL De Anza division.
Los Gatos (3-3, 2-1), which trailed 21-0, got two TD passes from Hunter Bigge.
Matt Spigelman’s 1-yard touchdown run with 32.9 seconds remaining gave the Cougars (6-0, 2-0 Peninsula Athletic League Ocean) a homecoming victory in a battle of unbeatens.
Spigelman had eight of his 21 carries and 33 of his 141 yards on the game-winning drive.
Menlo then drove all the way to the Half Moon Bay 25 before Pablo Gutierrez intercepted a pass in the end zone to seal the game.
Gutierrez also had a 14-yard reception on 4th-and-10 inside the final minute to set up 1st-and-goal at the Menlo 6.
Menlo (5-1, 1-1) trailed 15-6 entering the fourth quarter, but took the lead as Mackenzie Morehead (19-for-38, 272 yards) threw touchdown passes to R.J. Babiera (six catches, 128 yards) and Jared Lucian (six catches, 98 yards).
#22 Sacred Heart Prep 48, Sequoia 3
Mountain View 16, Monta Vista 7
Moreau Catholic 62, Newark Memorial 0