MaxPreps 2012 Preseason Xcellent 25 Football preview: No. 8 De La Salle

The sun rises and sets. Tax season comes and goes. And De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) is in the national rankings yet again.

Despite losing its top player and leader on both sides of the ball – Wisconsin-bound quarterback Bart Houston and Cal-bound linebacker Michael Barton, both three-year starters – the Spartans look more than primed to make another national title charge. In fact, normally quite unimposing, this will be one of De La Salle's larger and more physically impressive squads.

Preseason Top 25 high school football early contenders

Their national title charge is based on a softer schedule – no long trips to out-of-state powers – and a talented group of hard-bodied athletes, personified at the linebacker spot with Top 100 recruit Michael Hutchings (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) along with David Moffitt (6-2, 210) and Victor Egu (6-3, 225). Throw in physical specimen Austin Hooper (6-4, 235), a defensive end and tight end, along with a deep, fast and experienced running group led by 1,000-yard rusher Pepe Vitale (5-11, 205) and De La Salle looks like it should make a seventh-straight appearance in the CIF State Bowl Games.



Whether the Spartans can duplicate their truly impressive back-to-back Open Division titles over Top 10 national teams from Southern California, Servite (48-8) and Westlake (35-0), seems improbable. Especially if absolutely loaded and fourth-ranked Santa Margarita is waiting at the other end.

Even though that possibility is nine months away, it would be a dream matchup, especially considering legendary coaches Bob Ladouceur of De La Salle and Santa Margarita's Harry Welch. Welch's Canyon team defeated the Spartans and Ladouceur in the initial Open Bowl game in 2006.

Before all that, De La Salle first has to figure out who will replace three-year starter Houston at quarterback. With two incoming juniors and first-year varsity players vying for the job, the Spartans aren't guaranteed anything.

Local look: "As good as De La Salle has been the last couple of the years – especially on defense – it could be even better this year, which is sort of scary. That's based on the sheer raw talent they have, especially at linebacker. Not many teams can say they have three guys such as Mike Hutchings, David Moffitt or Victor Egu at one position. The big question obviously is to find a quarterback but I think De La Salle will just go back to the way they used to use their quarterbacks. Whoever that guy is will just be handing the ball off to a deep set of running backs.
- Ben Enos, Contra Costa Times
  {PAGEBREAK} 
Size: Division I

Enrollment: 1,050 (approx., all boys)

2011 finish: 13-1, CIF Open Division champions

Head coach: Bob Ladouceur



Career record: 383-25-3

Years at school: 32

Notable players coached:

Doug Brien (Cal, NFL)

Maurice Jones-Drew (UCLA, NFL)

Derek Landri (Notre Dame, NFL)



Amani Toomer (Michigan, NFL)

D.J. Williams (Miami, NFL)

T.J. Ward (Oregon, NFL)
{PAGEBREAK} 
No. of returning starters: 5 (offense), 6 (defense)

Key losses:
QB Bart Houston

LB Michael Barton

WR-DB Anthony Williams



RB Joe Te'o

DB Josh Jenkins

OL-DL Luc Hamilton

OL-DL Chris Olinger

OL-DL Justin Walker

Key returners:
LB-RB-WR Michael Hutchings



RB-LB Pepe Vitale

LB-TE Victor Egu

LB David Moffitt

DE-TE Austin Hooper

OL-DL Sumner Houston

WR-DB Andrew Buckley



DB Kevin Griffin

Key newcomers:
QB Chris Williams

QB Joe Metcalf

WR Marquis Morris
{PAGEBREAK}

Toughest game: Bellarmine (San Jose) on Aug. 31. OK, most people would say Week 2 against Colorado power Mullen, but if there has been an Achilles heel with the De La Salle program it is getting off to slow starts. If you're going to get the Spartans, it's Week 1 or 2. Bellarmine easily could have been in the national title race last year had it beaten De La Salle (lost 26-23 in overtime) and Santa Margarita (lost 42-37 in State Division I bowl game). The Bells lost a lot to graduation, primarily do-everything quarterback Travis McHugh, but the Bells have 20 of 47 players returning including superb athlete and quarterback Kenneth Olugbode. Bellarine has great system, coaching continuity and talent stream.

Question mark: Already clearly stated. Who will be taking snaps. Williams, the younger brother of Anthony Williams and former NFL receiver Demetrius Williams, is thick (5-11, 195) and has a huge arm. Metcalf (5-9, 180) is more in the mold of previous De La Salle veer quarterbacks. Both played JV last season. The team's offensive line – other than tight end – doesn't return any full-time starters but has numerous guys who saw action. Sumner Houston (6-4, 240), brother of Bart Houston, has been particularly impressive.

Local look: Nobody in Northern California has defeated De La Salle since 1991 – that's not a misprint – 1991! The East Bay Athletic League is filled with superb coaching and scattered with Division I talent. Monte Vista, California, San Ramon Valley and Foothill are perennially Top 20 teams in the San Francisco Bay Area and often among the state's Top 25. But after three decades of domination, there's a mental block with these schools. No school believes they can do it. And without a little swagger and a lot of confidence, it's hard to hang with the Spartans.



Overall outlook: Enos had it right. This likely will be old-school De La Salle. Houston was a tall, big-armed, non-traditional veer quarterback. But he was remarkably bright for the Spartans and learned how to be successful – De La Salle was 38-1 with him under center. Williams or Metcalf, both super athletes, will be handing the ball often to Vitale, Dasmond Tautalatasi and a host of others. De La Salle's defense should provide plenty of three-and-outs to provide plenty of repetition for the offense. A new regional playoff system will provide De La Salle a big and new obstacle likely in the Sacramento region – Grant perhaps? - so the road to a State Bowl game will be at least interesting.

Coach quote: "There's no doubt the strength of our team is around our linebackers, defense and running game. We do have a question mark at quarterback but we can't start much slower than we did last year at that spot. (Williams and Metcalf) have good potential. The whole group does. If the offense comes together with the new quarterback, this could be a very good team."