The last time California high school football juggernaut
De La Salle (Concord) lost a North Coast Section game George H.W. Bush was president, the internet was just getting off the ground and the Soviet Union had just dissolved, ending the Cold War.
That unbeaten streak of 287 games that started in 1991 continued Friday night. But for once, the Spartans got a little scare before pulling out a 31-14 home victory over previously-unbeaten
San Ramon Valley (Danville).
The nation's No. 17 team trailed 7-3 at halftime but went back to its longtime bread-and-butter, the veer offense, to get 100-yard rushing games from
Duece Jones-Drew and
Judah Pape.
Duece Jones-Drew helped power the De La Salle running game Friday night against San Ramon Valley, churning out 127 yards on 19 carries. (FILE PHOTO: Ernie Abrea)
De La Salle improved to 8-0 on the season while San Ramon Valley dropped to 7-1.
Jones-Drew rushed 19 times for 127 yards and Pape did almost all his work in the second half, rushing nine times for 100 yards and two touchdowns as the Spartans beat San Ramon Valley for the 29th straight time in the series history.
Jamal Johnson-Lucas also rushed for a second-half touchdown and speedy wideout
Damari Dean put the finishing touches on this one with a 30-yard catch-and-run for score.
De La Salle recorded 338 of its 444 total yards after intermission and, forced San Ramon Valley quarterback
Cole Dawes into his first interception of the season and sacked him four times.
Unlike the last two meetings, when they lost 42-0 and 56-7, the Wolves showed they meant business from the get-go as junior running back
Owen Power took a short out pattern and rambled 66 yards on the game's third play, setting up his own 4-yard touchdown run.
That made it 7-0 with 9:53 left in the first.
San Ramon Valley seemed destined to lead 7-0 at halftime but Dawes threw his first interception of the season (he has 21 touchdowns) on a nifty, juggling catch by top junior linebacker prospect
Landon Miller.
That led to a couple big runs and passes to get into the red zone but the Wolves limited
Johnny Borba to a short field goal to keep San Ramon Valley ahead 7-3 at intermission.
Getting back to basics in the second half, the De La Salle veer produced two quick touchdowns keyed by long runs from Pape to give the Spartans a 17-7 lead.
Pape broke runs of 48 and 29 yards on consecutive possessions, setting up a touchdown by Johnson-Lucas and another for himself.
An avalanche was avoided thanks to San Ramon Valley linebacker
Cole Scott (12 tackles), who forced a fumble that was scooped up by
Landon Maloney (10 tackles) and raced 57 yards untouched for a touchdown.
The Wolves, despite negative yards in the third quarter, closed to 17-14.
Jones-Drew made the run of the game on the ensuing possession, cutting from one side of the field to the other on a 63-yard scamper. On the next play, Pape waltzed into the end zone making it 24-14 with 11:26 left in the fourth.
De La Salle put it away on a touchdown pass off a middle inside screen from junior
Jackson Mims to Dean, making it 31-14 with 2:20 left.
San Ramon Valley, which got 140 total yards and a touchdown from Power, host California next week.
De La Salle hosts Amador Valley. The two teams might very well being the top two seeds in the NCS Open Division playoffs. The loser of that championship game drops to the Division 1 bracket, which for the last four years has been won by Pittsburg.
