Bay Area football blitz: Depleted Serra almost takes out No. 3 De La Salle

For all the weeks, months and years De La Salle (Concord) has beat up on Northern California, this certainly didn't appear the day the Spartans would receive their up-comings.

Serra (San Mateo), certainly a worthy foe and superb program coached by of all people one of De La Salle's finest alums Patrick Walsh, was down six starters for bad luck's sake, including his top star, two-way lineman and Notre Dame-commit Matthew Dickerson.

But the Padres had the Spartans on the ropes in the fourth quarter, only let it to slip away 21-14 in San Mateo on Saturday.

De La Salle, No. 3 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, used two big plays – a deep pass and an interception – to key a 14-point fourth-quarter rally that ended with a tiebreaking 1-yard sneak by Chris Williams with 3:18 left.

The victory extended the Spartans' Northern California unbeaten streak to 238 games.

De La Salle (2-0) overcame severe second-quarter injuries to two starting playmakers – running back Dasmond Tautalatasi (left arm) and receiver/safety Adam Mayer (right leg) – to finally punch through with two TD sneaks by Williams within a 75-second span beginning with a tying score with 4:33 left.

Serra (0-1) almost pulled the massive upset.

"Those guys outplayed us," De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. "We made the plays when we needed to, and I was happy with the guts we eventually showed. But we stunk up the place for a long time."

Serra took a 14-7 lead with 9:36 left when first-year starting quarterback Matthew Fa'aita (12 of 24, 203 yards) scrambled and found Austin Jackson for an 85-yard score. De La Salle fumbled its next possession but Serra missed a 37-yard field goal.

De La Salle took advantage as Williams completed a 43-yard pass to Marquis Morris, setting up his game-tying sneak. Moments later, Mayer's replacement, John Quinn, intercepted a pass and returned it 20 yards to the 10 to set up the winner.

"Pain is good," Walsh said. "I want to feel pain in losses. I don't want cold and timid souls who feel nothing in victory or defeat. We want to feel the pain, and obviously it hurts."

Serra outgained De La Salle 301-283 and it shutdown John Velasco, who finished with just 51 yards on 20 carries. He had 184 yards rushing and three touchdowns last week against Clayton Valley. Sophomore Antoine Custer did a superb job when called upon and finished with 65 yards on seven carries and a touchdowns.

In other football action around the Bay Area this weekend:

Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 31, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 20: Marin Catholic (2-0) fought back from a 10-0 deficit behind the play of Nevada-bound Andrew Celis to win for the fifth straight time in the series. … Celis caught a 17-yard touchdown pass, threw a 24-yard halfback option pass for another score, kicked a 46-yard field goal and returned from leg cramps to recover an onside kick to seal the win. … Darius Peterson added touchdown runs of 3 and 35 yards and Oregon-bound quarterback Morgan Mahalak threw for 136 yards and one touchdown. … St. Ignatius (0-1) got 106 yards rushing and one TD from Elijah Dale, but it came on a 31 carries. … Ryan Hagfeldt, making his first varsity start, passed for 156 yards and one TD, but he was sacked three times, all by Felix Lemerle. … The series, dating back to 1988, is now tied at 9-9-1. ... Marin Catholic entered as the No. 13 team in Northern California.

Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 28, Lincoln (San Francisco) 19: The John Lee coaching era at Riordan got off to a successful start as third-year starting quarterback Zach Masoli rushed for four touchdowns in a hard-earned win over defending San Francisco Section champion Lincoln (0-1). … Masoli, who rushed for 119 yards and passed for 92, scored on runs of 15, 57, 1 and 25 yards, the latter with four minutes left in third quarter to go up 28-7. … Lincoln rallied behind the running tandem of Tyree Marzetta (127 yards rushing, TD) and Davion Telfor (112 yards, TD). … Joshua Bonse-Davis added a 23-yard touchdown reception for Lincoln. … Masoli had TD runs of 48 and 22 yards called back by penalty.

Bellarmine (San Jose) 28, El Cerrito 25: At De Anza-Richmond High School, Vanderbilt-bound quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns and the Bells (1-0) ran out the final 4:17 after El Cerrito’s only turnover which came at the Bellarmine 26. … El Cerrito (1-1), which played without Cal-bound two-way star Jalen Harvey (automatic suspension for being ejected previous game), got a big game from quarterback Keilan Benjamin, who accounted for 324 yards and all four touchdowns. … A missed extra point and two two-point conversion stops proved decisive. … El Cerrito closed to 28-25 on the last play of the third quarter on a 3-yard TD pass from Benjamin to his twin Keith Benjamin. … After El Cerrito’s turnover, Bellarmine rattled off four first downs to end it. … Bellarmine rushed for 262 yards. ... Bellarmine entered as the No. 5 team in Northern California and El Cerrito was No. 6.

Friday games: The Ken Peralta coaching era at Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) got off to a resounding start with a 40-21 win at Saratoga as Brett Rasso scored four touchdowns and the SHC defense recorded six sacks and two interceptions. The Irish led 40-7 in the fourth quarter. ... Alex Andrighetto rushed for two touchdowns, Riley Quinn returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown and Landon Baty rushed for an 18-yard score as St. Francis (Mountain View) won 28-0 at Oak Grove-San Jose (0-1). ... The Lancers (1-0) recorded six sacks in the second quarter alone. ... Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) (1-0) spoiled the Los Gatos coaching debut of Mark Krail with a 28-14 win at Foothill College-Los Altos Hills as impressive junior running back Dakari Monroe needed just eight carries to go for 150 yards and two touchdowns. ... Speedy junior Isaiah Langley scored on an 82-yard reception and a 30-yard run leading No. 11 Foothill (Pleasanton) (2-0) to a 32-6 win at No. 25 Freedom-Oakley (0-2). ... Host Pittsburg (1-1) responded from a humbling loss at Analy-Sebastopol with a spirited 35-33 upset over No.. 8 Callifornia-San Ramon (1-1) as Harris Ross, one of the Bay Area's best, rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns. ... Another rebound win, this one from visinting Monte Vista (Danville) (1-1) with a 20-6 triumph over Berkeley (1-1). Monte Vista gave up 57 points last week. ... Terra Nova (Pacifica) (1-0) might have recorded the most impressive win of the night with a 45-7 win at Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland (1-1). ... Evidently McClymonds (Oakland) (2-0) is for real after a 40-7 home win over perennial small-school power Ferndale.