Linebackers Bubba Vargas (left) and Landon Miller are two of the top players for the De La Salle of Concord defense this season. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Grant of Sacramento, and in Friday night’s game at home against state No. 7 De La Salle of Concord it was an up-and-down game that the Pacers lost, 47-20. De La Salle’s coaches were happy that the offense had a powerful first half, but they were not happy the defense let Grant back into the game (at least for a brief time in the third quarter).
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In last December’s CIF Open Division state championship between heavily favored Mater Dei of Santa Ana and De La Salle of Concord, there were some moments of concern for the Monarchs in the third quarter after the Spartans scored twice in which they had cut a big lead down to 23-15 and were threatening for more until the Monarchs regained control and went on to post a 37-15 victory.
De La Salle came into Friday’s matchup at Grant of Sacramento equal to Mater Dei in that state final as a big favorite. The Spartans had not even given up a point on defense yet in wins against Lakeland (Florida), Serra of San Mateo and St. Francis of Mountain View. They’re up to No. 7 in the state and had become a solid No. 1 in Northern California. The Pacers had a big loss to state No. 12 Folsom, then roared back for a 42-26 win vs defending Central Section D1 champ Central East of Fresno, then stumbled again vs Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and then beat another top Central Section squad with a 19-15 triumph vs Clovis East of Clovis. They were No. 33 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports State TOP 50.
Instead of leading 23-0 at halftime like Mater Dei from a year ago, the Spartans were comfortably ahead 34-7 with just several minutes left before halftime. Grant was able to score with 10 seconds left in the second quarter, however, and then scored again after getting the ball first to start the second half. It was 34-20 and the Pacers even had the ball twice with a chance to make it a one-score game before the Spartans regained control and then went on to get a 47-20 triumph.
Brayden Knight completed his first six passes and scored on a 36-yard run to help De La Salle to a win on Friday at Grant. Photo: Mark Tennis.
De La Salle coaches hardly ever talk to their players after a game on the field as it’s usually a situation in which the players run off to their locker room immediately afterward for their postgame chat. This time at Grant, however, it was possible to see it and hear it and the coaches were not congratulatory. They know what’s coming up on the schedule — games against St. Mary’s of Stockton and Cathedral Catholic of San Diego — and also how perfectly the team will have to play to have a chance in another possible CIF Open Division state final should the Spartans once again get the CIF’s NorCal berth for that game. Longtime assistant, former athletic director and former defensive coordinator Terry Eidson even told them the scores of Grant’s loss to Folsom (51-13) and what happened to Folsom when it went down south to play state No. 2 Mission Viejo (lost 53-14).
“I thought all week the defense had some real bad practices and it showed tonight,” said head coach Justin Alumbaugh. “We haven’t had that yet this season.”
Earlier in the conversation, Alumbaugh gave credit to Grant’s talented cast of pass catchers, including juniors Koby Shabazz and Zo Edwards, but warned that both St. Mary’s and Cathedral Catholic are the same.
“Exactly,” he said. “Grant is one of the top teams in Northern California and we should like this win, but we have to be better on defense.”
The De La Salle defense was dominant early in the game as the Pacers could not get a first down on their first two possessions, then got one on their third, then nothing again on their fourth. Meanwhile, the DLS offense was clicking. The Spartans scored on their first two series, mixing it up well with QB Brayden Knight passing, going no-huddle (not something we’ve seen them do hardly ever before) and using multiple ball carriers. Both of the first two TDs were scored by CIF state sprint champion Jaden Jefferson on runs of 39 and 14 yards.
After a missed field goal on their third series, the Spartans increased their lead to 21-0 on a 3-yard TD run by Knight with 1:36 left in the first quarter. That score was set up with a 77-yard run by running back Brady Smith in which he was knocked out of bounds just short of what would have been an 80-yard touchdown. That big run helped Smith in being the top ground gainer on the night with eight carries for 109 yards.
The Spartans put the game seemingly out of reach on a drive in the second quarter mostly led by Knight. The senior doesn’t run the option like some of the DLS QBs of recent years but has the speed to go the distance when he has to and throws it on time and with accuracy better than some of the recent DLS QBs. Knight completed two passes on the fourth scoring drive before he broke loose on a 36-yard touchdown run.
Grant finally hit a big play on offense in the second quarter on a deep ball from sophomore QB Tavio Rios, who has been a back-up to junior Shiren Crump (seen in streetclothes on the sideline), to junior Dio Knight that went for 62 yards to the 19-yard line. Rios then threw a 19-yard TD pass to Knight, who proved he could make plays if in single coverage (which is what happens when there’s Shabazz and Edwards out there running routes as well). That TD was the first allowed by the DLS defense since the only score in the win vs Lakeland (Fla.) came via an offensive turnover.
De La Salle scored again after Grant’s first touchdown for a 34-7 lead on a 8-yard run by sophomore Jamal Johnson-Lucas, one of several backs that Alumbaugh used and part of one of the deepest cast of talented running backs that we’ve ever seen from the school.
The Pacers were looking to score just before halftime and then knowing they’d get the ball first to start the second half perhaps score again. That’s exactly what they did. Their drive to score just before the half was helped by three penalties against the DLS defense that measured 35 yards. Rios’ scrambling plus a big third down completion to Edwards also keyed the drive. After the third of the penalties put the ball on the 10-yard line, Rios threw a screen pass to junior Thorne Watson, who broke a tackle and scored with just 10 seconds left in the half.
Sophomore Tavio Rios did some effective scrambling and threw for two TD passes for Grant in loss to De La Salle. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
Grant’s TD to start the third quarter that cut the DLS lead to 34-20 saw Rios complete passes of 20, 15 and 20 yards before he spotted Edwards with just one player on him (a matchup anyone would take all night) and the talented junior made the catch in the end zone (despite being held on the play) for a 26-yard touchdown.
De La Salle’s first two series of the third quarter also were stymied by the Pacers’ defense plus there was a bad snap on a shotgun play that caused a 15-yard loss. Grant couldn’t take advantage to further cut into the lead, though, and then it was the Spartans who regained control with a 47-yard touchdown run by junior Duece Jones-Drew.
Grant’s next three possessions saw it turn the ball over all three times, one on a simple dropped handoff, and one on an interception on a pass that probably should have been caught. De La Salle scored its final touchdown of the night with 7:32 remaining on a 7-yard run by Jones-Drew. We had him with nine carries for 82 yards on the night and Jefferson with 10 carries for 79 yards. With the speed he has, the DLS coaches are making sure Jefferson is getting the ball on running plays this season and not so much as a receiver.
Knight completed his first six passes and we had him going 13 of 18 for 159 yards. Junior Dylan Scott was the team’s top receiver with three catches for 47 yards.
“I thought he had a very good game,” Alumbaugh said of Knight. “For the offense tonight, it definitely was some steps forward from where we’ve been.”
Rios only completed 13 passes for Grant out of 30 attempts but got big yardage on those completions for 260 yards. He also had scramble runs of 25, 14, 7 and 6 yards. Another QB besides Crump that may be in Grant’s future plans is junior Blake Nycum, who was a backup at Folsom last season behind All-American Ryder Lyons, and is not yet eligible. Rios did his best, but if there is a QB who can more easily get the ball into the hands of Shabazz, Edwards, Knight and the rest, then watch out for the Pacers’ offense in the upcoming CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
It’s the quest for the big picture that is obvious while watching Grant. While some of its fans may not like the team moving up to the D1 playoffs this season in the section after just one year in D2, the goal has always been to compete with Folsom, Oak Ridge and the rest for D1 section titles. The recent CIF state titles in lower divisions are byproducts of the players that co-head coaches Carl Reed and Syd’Quan Thompson have been working with to get there. It’s also why Grant has played De La Salle the past two seasons, why it played Folsom earlier this year and why it’s going down to San Diego to play CIF D1-AA state champ Lincoln next week. It’s also still a very young team with 16 underclass starters. Beating Folsom may not be obtainable yet this season, but next year don’t be surprised.
Seeing Jones-Drew and his dad, Maurice, coaching on the sidelines was a reminder of a previous year in which a birthday of yours truly had to be observed with a De La Salle football game. That was a birthday in 2002 when the Spartans were playing St. Louis of Honolulu in Hawaii on Sept. 20 and we had to be there a couple of days earlier. Maurice led DLS to a 31-21 victory before 30,000 fans at Aloha Stadium.
We have seen Grant play on a birthday before as well and it was the 50th back in 2009 when the Pacers beat Bellevue, Washington, up in Seattle at a funky stadium located right below the famous Space Needle. Going to the DLS at Grant game on the birthday also was possible since one of the traditions for yours truly is to see the parents for a meal (still going at age 91 and 90 years old) and they live about 15 minutes from Grant off the Madison Avenue exit. If this was Grant at DLS like last year, we would have found a different game to see.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
