8. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) - Full preview
Michael Hutchings will make sure De La Salle's defense is among the nation's best.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Strengths: De La Salle may have had its best-ever defense last season, and the unit should carry the Spartans in 2012. All-American linebacker
Michael Hutchings, with
Victor Egu,
D.J. Moffit and
Austin Hooper, the front seven could rival last year’s dominant group and will cause major headaches for De La Salle’s opponents.
Question marks: The obvious question is how De La Salle will replace quarterback Bart Houston. The bigger question is how will De La Salle do early in the season? By December in recent years, the Spartans could give the San Francisco 49ers a game. However, they’ve gotten hammered in September out-of-state games in two of the last three seasons, and needed double overtime - and a miracle missed PAT - to survive their season opener against Bellarmine last fall. There’s little doubt that De La Salle will be among the nation’s elite when CIF Bowl Games come around.
Outlook: Wondering if De La Salle will be good is akin to wondering if its colors are green and silver. It’s a given. The question is if the Spartans will be good or great, on par with some of the De La Salle teams that have finished the season with No. 1 national rankings.
