Sports

Houston Shines as De La Salle Smashes San Ramon Valley

Wisconsin-bound senior throws for 248 yards as the Spartans crush San Ramon 40-3.

By his own account, De La Salle High quarterback Bart Houston hasn't had the type of season he was expecting. Sure, the Spartans are still the No. 1 ranked team in California, but Houston hasn't delivered the eye-popping numbers one might expect from Scout.com's No. 4-rated high school quarterback.

Until Friday, that is.

The future Wisconsin Badger completed eight of 11 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns as De La Salle (7-1, 5-0 EBAL) made quick work of (6-2, 4-1) in a 40-3 at Owen Owens Field in a game that used a running clock for most of the fourth quarter.

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"I haven't had the greatest season, but I wanted to go out and prove that I'm the best quarterback on the field," Houston said. "I think I did that tonight."

His counterpart, San Ramon Valley's Zach Kline ran for his life all night. , who is Scout.com's No. 11-ranked quarterback prospect, completed 14 of 23 passes for 153 yards, but was sacked nine times. 

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"They did everything right, we did everything wrong," Kline said. "It's all about how we respond to this. We made a promise after we lost to Folsom that we wouldn't lose another game this year. That'll be the plan again ... we'll see these guys again."

If the teams do meet again, it could come in the North Coast Section Division I championship game. The Wolves seemed destined for the No. 3 seed, which would slot them on the opposite side of the bracket from the Spartans.

Using history as a guide, that wouldn't bode well for San Ramon. The Spartans have a much-earned reputation for improving more than any team — possibly in the nation — as the season winds down. 

After San Ramon went three-and-out to open the game, De La Salle responded with a 10-straight running plays and took an early lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by David Riopelle.

The Wolves simply had no answer for De La Salle's powerful rushing attack, so when they crept up during the Spartans' next drive they became vulnerable to the play-action pass. Houston's first pass of the night had an option-look to it before he dropped back and found Anthony Williams streaking down the middle for a 52-yard score.

At that point, it was pretty clear the game would get out of hand in a hurry. 

The Wolves cut the lead to 14-3 on a 38-yard field goal from Matt Anderson, but it was all De La Salle after that. 

The Spartans led 34-3 at the half and Houston finished with touchdowns passes of 32, 33 and 44 yards.

Tiapepe Vitale ran for 102 yards on 16 carries and Williams had three catches for 107 yards and two scores for De La Salle. The Spartans limited San Ramon to just two yards rushing and piled up 486 yards of total offense. 

Michael Tagliaferri had five catches for 37 yards for SRV and Matt Turner added four catches for 64 yards.

"Everyone who grows up around her dreams about beating De La Salle," San Ramon Valley coach Mark Kessler said.

For the Wolves, Friday was more like a nightmare. 

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