Video: St. John Bosco-De La Salle highlights Watch nation's top-ranked team beat De La Salle for 2019 state Open title.
Quick. Which is the most dominant football program over the last decade in California?
Surely it would have to be one of the two big super powers that have emerged in the Golden State: St. John Bosco (Bellflower) or Mater Dei (Santa Ana), right?
The Braves and Monarchs have won the last two mythical national championships according to MaxPreps, and have contended the last four.
Despite that, the team that those two Southern California powerhouses have defeated the last four years in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division State Championship game — De La Salle (Concord) — is actually the most dominating. Over the decade.
Since 2010, the Spartans have racked up more points via our methodology, which is determined this way:
• Top 25 finishes in the MaxPreps state computer rankings (25 points awarded to the No. 1 team, 24 for No. 2 and so on).
• Top 25 finishes in the MaxPreps national computer rankings (50 points for No. 1, 49 for No. 2 and so on).
• State/Bowl championships (20 points).
• State/Bowl championship game appearances (10 points).
The Spartans, in fact, were the clear winner based upon this system, with more than 200 points over runner-up St. John Bosco.
By section, the Southern Section makes up 13 of the 20 teams, followed by the Sac-Joaquin and San Diego with two each and Los Angeles, Central and North Coast sections with one apiece.
Here are the Top 20 teams in the state based upon that point system.
Top 20 most dominant high school football programs of past decade in California
Shamar Garrett led De La Salle to another CIF Open Championship game in 2019.
File photo by Dennis Lee
1. De La Salle (Concord) (828)
State championships: 2010 (Open), 2011 (Open), 2012 (Open), 2014 (Open), 2015 (Open)
State runner-up: 2013 (Open), 2016 (Open), 2017 (Open), 2018 (Open), 2019 (Open)
State Top 25: 2010 (1), 2011 (1), 2012 (1), 2013 (2), 2014 (1), 2015 (1), 2016 (5), 2017 (5), 2018 (3), 2019 (3)
Nationally ranked: 2010 (1), 2011 (3), 2012 (1), 2013 (6), 2014 (1), 2015 (1), 2016 (24), 2017 (15), 2018 (4), 2019 (13)
State championships: 2013 (Open), 2016 (Open), 2019 (Open)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2011 (13), 2012 (5), 2013 (1), 2014 (4), 2015 (3), 2016 (1), 2017 (2), 2018 (2), 2019 (1)
Nationally ranked: 2012 (23), 2013 (1), 2014 (19), 2015 (4), 2016 (2), 2017 (3), 2018 (2), 2019 (1)
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: 2010 (I), 2012 (Open), 2014 (Open), 2015 (Open)
State Top 25: 2010 (5), 2011 (11), 2012 (2), 2013 (6), 2014 (3), 2015 (2), 2016 (3), 2017 (4), 2018 (5), 2019 (5)
Nationally ranked: 2010 (2), 2012 (13), 2014 (9), 2015 (2), 2016 (8), 2017 (12), 2018 (9), 2019 (20)
State championships: 2017 (Open), 2018 (Open)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2010 (17), 2012 (8), 2013 (3), 2014 (6), 2015 (2), 2016 (2), 2017 (1), 2018 (1), 2019 (2)
Nationally ranked: 2013 (10), 2015 (17), 2016 (3), 2017 (1), 2018 (1), 2019 (2)
State championships: 2019 (II), 2014 (1), 2017 (1AA), 2018 (1AA)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2010 (2), 2012 (16), 2013 (8), 2014 (2), 2015 (8), 2016 (15), 2017 (3), 2018 (4), 2019 )23)
Nationally ranked: 2010 (5), 2014 (5), 2017 (8), 2018 (7)
State championships: 2015 (I-AA)
State runner-up: NA
State Top 25: 2010 (6) 2011 (7), 2012 (10), 2013 (7), 2014 (12), 2015 (4), 2016 (8), 2017 (6), 2018 (8), 2019 (6)
Nationally ranked: 2010 (23), 2015 (10), 2017 (17), 2019 (23)
State championships: 2011 (I)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2010 (10), 2011 (2), 2012 (12), 2014 (24), 2016 (12), 2017 (10)
Nationally ranked: 2011 (10)
State championships: 2015 (I-A), 2017 (I-A)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2011 (22), 2012 (3), 2015 (25), 2016 (23), 2017 (9), 2019 (8)
Nationally ranked: 2012 (18)
State championships: 2012 (II)
State runner-up: 2010 (II)
State Top 25: 2010 (12), 2012 (6), 2013 (11), 2014 (11), 2015 (11), 2016 (25)
Nationally ranked: 2012 (25)
State championships: 2011 (11)
State runner-up: 2016 (Open), 2017 (1AA)
State Top 25: 2011 (6), 2013 (25), 2014 (15), 2015 (7), 2016 (20), 2017 (7), 2019 (12)
Nationally ranked: N/A
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2010 (20), 2011 (3), 2012 (7), 2013 (9), 2014 (17), 2015 (12), 2016 (21)
Nationally ranked: 2011 (16)
State championships: 2016 (I-AA)
State runner-up: 2018 (I-AA)
State Top 25: 2013 (16), 2014 (20), 2016 (4), 2018 (9), 2019 (20)
Nationally ranked: 2016 (16)
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2010 (7), 2011 (12), 2012 (20), 2013 (13), 2015 (22), 2017 (12), 2018 (6)
Nationally ranked: 2018 (16)
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: 2012 (I)
State Top 25: 2011 (20), 2012 (4), 2013 (10), 2014 (8), 2015 (19), 2017 (13)
Nationally ranked: 2012 (22)
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: 2010 (Open)
State Top 25: 2010 (3), 2011 (10), 213 (18), 2017 (24), 2019 (10)
Nationally ranked: 2010 (7)
State championships: N/A
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2013 (15), 2014 (10), 2015 (21), 2017 (18), 2018 (7), 2019 (13)
Nationally ranked: 2018 (17)
State championships: 2013 (II)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2012 (17), 2013 (4), 2016 (22), 2017 (11)
Nationally ranked: 2013 (18)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2018 (22), 2019 (4)
Nationally ranked: 2019 (16)
State championships: 2012 (IV), 2013 (IV), 2014 (IV), 2015 (SMALL)
State runner-up: N/A
State Top 25: 2015 (9)
Nationally ranked: N/A
State championships: 2015 (II-AA)
State runner-up: 2011 (II), 2013 (I), 2018 (2AA)
State Top 25: 2011 (15), 2013 (24), 2015 (15), 2016 (14), 2018 (15)
Nationally ranked: N/A
Corona del Mar won a 2019 state championship.
File photo by Heston Quan
