De La Salle has won 299 straight NorCal games. Can Central Catholic stop the streak?
It’s nearly 100 degrees at 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon at a Central Catholic football practice.
There’s no joking around going on and you would be hard-pressed to find a smile from one of the Raiders’ players.
Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa is talking about consistency, working on play after play.
“I think we got a little better today,” Canepa tells his players, most of whom are dripping with sweat, after practice.
After a loss to Clovis West in Week 1, a game coaches and players said they should have won, Central Catholic will have to play much better for its next opponent, a team that has dominated NorCal teams for nearly 30 years.
In front of an expected sell-out crowd with standing-room only available as the game gets close to kickoff on Friday at 7 p.m., Central Catholic will host De La Salle, the No. 5 ranked team in the state by MaxPreps and No. 16 in the nation.
“I am looking forward to the hype,” senior running back Minaya Olivo said. “That just fuels me ... just seeing all of those people out here for us, that makes me feel really good.”
The “hype” of the game as been talked about all summer. At the past two Modesto Quarterback Club meetings, people in attendance were already talking about getting tickets.
Mark Loureiro, the long-time Escalon coach who won 281 games in 29 seasons before retiring last June, said at an August Central Catholic practice Friday’s game is one of the biggest regular season games ever in the area.
It has to do with the opponent.
De La Salle is a juggernaut program.
The Spartans have a 299-game unbeaten streak against NorCal teams north of Fresno, a streak that began in 1991, also the last year De La Salle played in the Central Valley when they snapped Merced’s 28-game winning streak with a 35-21 win.
“We had more bodies on our team but they were a lean machine,” former Merced High coach Mark Speckman said last August. “Every guy could play. They didn’t really have any surprises. They just out-executed us.”
That game featured the top two teams in the state at the time and a congressman landed in a helicopter in a field in what is now classrooms at Merced College.
De La Salle would beat Merced, 34-14 in Concord the following year, the first victory in the Spartans’ national-record 151-game winning streak.
“They made us scrap and fight and earn every yard”
On paper, De La Salle’s 35-7 win over Central Catholic last year wasn’t a close game. However, the Raiders entered the fourth quarter trailing by only 14 points and had the ball in the Spartans’ territory before punting.
De La Salle scored two touchdowns in the next three minutes.
“They played tough and kept the ball away from our offense,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said earlier this week. “They got our guys out of position and had a physical defense. They gave us everything we could handle.”
Central Catholic scored more points in that game than the five previous De La Salle victories over CIF Sac-Joaquin Section teams. Those four teams (Del Oro, Folsom, Granite Bay, and Jesuit) combined for three points with only the Golden Eagles scoring in a 41-3 loss on Oct. 23, 2015.
Alumbaugh, who is in seventh year with the Spartans, said he is looking forward to the atmosphere.
“I think it’s great for the kids and great for the program,” he said. “It will give our guys a little adversity and it should be a great high school football environment.”
The Spartans’ veer offense features senior running back Shamar Garrett and junior quarterback Dorian Hale.
Garrett rushed for 151 yards against the Raiders last year and Hale threw two touchdowns in the Spartans’ 24-14 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) last week.
“We have to tackle well and get their offense off the field,” Alumbaugh said.
Ready to compete
Olivo, who ran for 110 yards and a touchdown last week, said he is looking forward to the competition.
“Those are dudes,” Olivo said. “You don’t see that around in the (Valley Oak League).
Whether they win or lose, Canepa said he wants his team’s effort to remain strong throughout the game.
“I want them to know they came here and they were in a game,” he said.
The two years De La Salle played Merced, Central Catholic went a combined 2-16 including an 0-9 season in 1991, according to Cal-Hi Sports’ Editor/Publisher Mark Tennis.
“If you would have imagined 20 years ago, Central Catholic will play De La Salle at home, who would have thought that?,” Canepa said.
De La Salle’s victories against CIF Sac-Joaquin Section teams since 2010
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| Date | Team | Result |
| Aug. 24, 2018 | Central Catholic | 35-7 |
| Aug. 17, 2018 | Folsom | 14-0 |
| Oct. 23, 2015 | Del Oro | 41-3 |
| Oct. 2, 2015 | Granite Bay | 37-0 |
| Sept. 19, 2014 | Del Oro | 52-0 |
| Aug. 28, 2014 | Jesuit | 63-0 |
| Dec. 14, 2013 | Folsom | 45-17 |
| Sept. 20, 2013 | Del Oro | 41-3 |
| Sept. 13, 2013 | St. Mary’s | 40-13 |
| Dec. 8, 2012 | Folsom | 49-15 |
| Sept. 14, 2012 | St. Mary’s | 21-13 |
| Sept. 16, 2011 | St. Mary’s | 35-0 |
| Sept. 17, 2010 | St. Mary’s | 40-14 |
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
