Bay Area Blitz: No. 6 De La Salle responds to Deer Valley's challenge

The best medicine for the De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) football team this time of year is a challenge.

And for two quarters, the first and third, visiting Deer Valley (Antioch), behind one of the Bay Area's most exciting players Nsimba Webster, gave them one.

But, as has been the case for the last 22 years, De La Salle answered emphatically, rattling off 36 straight points after the Wolverines took a 14-7 lead en route to a 57-27 North Coast Section Division I semifinal win Friday night.

Sophomore Antoine Custer rushed for two scores and returned a punt 55 yards for another, quarterback Chris Williams accounted for three touchdowns and John Velasco rushed for two as De La Salle (12-0), ranked sixth nationally by MaxPreps, advanced to next week's NCS finals against Saturday's Pittsburg versus California-San Ramon winner.

The Spartans have won 21 straight NCS titles and four straight CIF State Open Division crowns. Deer Valley finished 11-2.

Webster, who accounted for more than 3,300 total yards and 46 touchdowns, made De La Salle work by accounting for all four Deer Valley touchdowns.

He answered Custer's 40-yard TD to open the game with an 80-yard sprint down his own sideline on Deer Valley's first play. After a DLS turnover, he connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Trey Ellis to give the Wolverines a 14-7 lead.

But it took just three plays for De La Salle to tie the game up on a 21-yard TD run from Velasco and then the Spartans rattled off 29 unanswered in the second quarter highlighted by Custer's electric punt return for score, making it 43-14 at halftime.

Deer Valley showed some fight, taking the second half kickoff and burning eight minutes off the clock, capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Webster to Brian Faatalale. Another De La Salle turnover gave Deer Valley a short field, but back-to-back sacks from Larry Ross and Boss Tagaloa thwarted the comeback.

Williams then fired a 51-yard TD pass to Sam Phillips and De La Salle was back in control.

Custer finsihed with 173 yards rushing, according to the Contra Costa Times, and De La Salle finished with 443.

Webster, who added a 32-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, finished with 130 yards rushing, 70 passing and more than 3,500 total yards on the season and 50 touchdowns.

"He's special," De La Salle coach Jason Alumbaugh said of Webster. "He's very difficult to contain."

El Cerrito 49, Campolindo (Moraga) 34

El Cerrito used all their blue chip recruits in a resounding Division III semifinal road win over second seed Campolindo (11-1), which had defeated the Gauchos (11-2) in two previous match-ups including 42-27 earlier this season. … Arizona State-bound Jalen Harvey caught two TD passes and returned a punt 72 yards for a score, UCLA-bound Adarius Pickett added a 62-yard TD run and Keilan Benjamin threw for three scores, the first a leaping 15-yard grab by ASU-bound Derik Calhoun. … An 8-yard TD run by Campolindo's Isaac Christian cut El Cerrito's lead to 21-14, before James Houston and Pickett ran off TD runs of 38 and 62 yards. … Andrew Zolintakis fired a 60-yard TD pass to Preston Kilwien, but Harvey responded with back-to-back TDs. … According to the Contra Costa Times, Pickett rushed for 134 yards, Benjamin threw for 154 yards and the Gauchos piled up 465 yards. ... Zolintakis completed 15 of 21 for 290 yards and three touchdowns. ... El Cerrito will play the winner of Saturday's Marin Catholic-Kentfield vs. Analy-Sebastopol contest.

Miramonte (Orinda) 44, Clayton Valley Charter (Concord) 38

Big games from quarterback Drew Anderson (333 yards, three touchdowns) and Ray Clark led the Matadors (11-2) to the road win over Clayton Valley (10-2) in a NCS D2 semifinal game. … Clark rushed for two scores, the second a 5 yarder to put Miramonte up 44-30 with 5:08 left. … Clayton Valley, which got 235 yards rushing and three touchdowns by Miles Harrison according to the Contra Costa Times, came right back with a 92-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Xavier Crawford and two-point conversion by Harrison to close to 44-38, but Anderson completed three straight passes for first downs to run out the clock. … Miramonte plays Saturday's Casa Granda-Petaluma versus Montgomery-Santa Rosa winner for the title.

Central Coast Section

St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 41, Burlingame 21

In D3 semifinals at Burlingame, Ryan Hagfeldt threw four touchdowns and ran for another and 5-foot-9, 217-pound fullback Brian Wollitz scored three touchdowns as fifth-seed St. Ignatius (4-8) upended top seed Burlingame (11-1). … St. Ignatius took a quick 21-0 lead on two TD passes to tight end Nik Bell and a 75-yarder to Joe Lang, before Burlingame scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half. … Manase Palu scored on a 50-yard run with 1:13 left and after a punt block, Griffin Intrieri scored on a 17-yard run to close the gap to 21-14. … Wollitz, who started the year on the line, then scored on a 1-yard dive and a 23-yard pass from Hagfeldt. … St. Ignatius plays Aptos, a 42-24 winner over Willow Glen in next week's title game. The Wildcats are going for a third straight CCS crown.

Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 37, Valley Christian (San Jose) 7

In Open Division semifinal play at Independence-San Jose, Dakari Monroe caught a 39-yard touchdown pass and returned a fumble 96 yards for another score while leading the Monarchs (12-1), who will face the winner of Saturday's Serra-Bellarmine game for the title. … Two TD runs by Kyle Evans made it 28-0 at halftime before Tre McCloud scored on a 71-yard run for Valley Christian (8-4). ... Trent Scharrenberg added two touchdown passes for the Monarchs, who no doubt want another shot at Serra, which handed them their only defeat, 31-7, to close the regular season.

Other games

Top D2 seed St. Francis (Mountain View) (9-3) pulled away with 17 unanswered second-half points to win 45-21 over visiting Palo Alto (6-6), which got two touchdown passes from Stanford-bound Keller Chryst (14 of 31, 278 yards) and a 98-yard kickoff return by Malcolm Davis. St. Francis' Alex Andrighetto rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns and Landon Baty carried 12 times for 120 yards and another score. William Fisher-Colbrie fired a 68-yard TD pass to Trill Hebert for St. Francis which will play Los Gatos in next week's title game. … Second-seed Los Gatos (9-2) got 212 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Joey Wood in a 35-6 win over visiting Menlo-Atherton (8-4). ... In Division I play, second seed Milpitas (10-2) got 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Squally Canada  and quarterback Ronnie Reed passed for 190 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-0 win over Piedmont Hills-San Jose. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Milpitas intercepted four passes and stopped five red zone chances from Piedmont Hills (8-4). Milpitas will go after its third CCS title next week against Saturday's Alvarez-San Benito winner. Tre Hartley caught TD passes of 57 and 23 yards.

Oakland Section

McClymonds (Oakland) 44, Oakland 16

Long time assistant and first-year head coach Michael Peters led the Warriors (10-2) to their fourth straight Oakland Section/Silver Bowl title by scoring the first 30 points of the second half at Laney College. … Louis White started the second-half scoring with a 90-yard kickoff, while Lavance Warren and Marcel Jackson broke of 59-yard TD runs. … McClymonds, which outscored OAL opponents 309-46, now waits to see if its invited to the North Region Division IV championship. That announcement will be made Dec. 8. ...  According to the Contra Costa Times, Warren rushed 15 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns. ... Oakland quarterback Kesomi Mafi accounted for 273 yards and a touchdown for Oakland (4-8).