Sports
Moving On: Spartans Crush Freedom High
De La Salle posts a convincing 70-7 home victory in the NCS quarterfinals
De La Salle 70, Freedom 7
The Star: The Spartans’ Austin Hooper caused Freedom High problems on both sides of the ball, hauling in a 14-yard touchdown pass and recording a pair of sacks. Senior quarterback Bart Houston accounted for three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) on 177 yards of total offense.
The Turning Point: When the De La Salle grounds crew turned the lights on. The home favorites seemed determined not to leave any doubt they were the superior program.
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The Quote: “We want to get back to that state title game. That’s what keeps them focused. That’s what keeps them working.” --De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur on his team’s ability to maintain its intensity, even as heavy favorites.
What's Next? De La Salle awaits the winner of Saturday night’s matchup between Berkeley High and Pittsburgh High.
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Bottom Line: The Spartans approached this North Coast Section playoff meeting with poise and resolve, as they fully dismantled the Falcons and advanced to the semifinal round.
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The 49ers stumbled in a big road test against the Baltimore Ravens. The Raiders continue their quest to solidify their collective identity. The Stanford Cardinal appear to be holding the short stick for a berth to the BCS National Championship Game. And the Cal Bears are middling through another in a string of underwhelming seasons.
As far as Northern California frontrunners go, De La Salle High continues to represent the gold standard.
They demonstrated as much as they steamrolled Freedom High, 70-7, in Friday night’s NCS quarterfinal game.
Entering the matchup as the top seed and without having lost to a Northern Californian opponent in 20 years, the Spartans dominated both sides of the ball. Still, perhaps most impressive was the level of poise and focus they maintained over the course of the game.
A big rushing touchdown was called back on account of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. They committed a number of penalties and miscues that might have staggered a lesser team and left them vulnerable to an upset.
According to De La Salle coach Bob Ladoceur, those miscues are instrumental in keeping his group sharp.
“It’s impossible to perfect this game,” he explained. “We want to get back to that state title game. That’s what keeps us focused and keeps us working.”
And work they did.
The Spartans elected to receive the opening kickoff and didn't see another one until there were just over nine minutes remaining in the game. The Falcons didn’t get to do much kicking, as the De La Salle defense refused to allow their opponents a single point from scrimmage.
Freedom came out with tremendous energy on defense during the opening drive, but a 41-yard connection from De La Salle quarterback Bart Houston to Andrew Buckley on third and long immediately dampened their spirits and sucked the life out of the Falcons’ supporters.
Three plays later, Houston rumbled into the end zone on a quarterback keeper to put the home favorites up early. Neither team managed a score during the remainder of the first quarter and it appeared that the underdogs from Oakley might hang around long enough to make things interesting.
Unfortunately for Freedom High, De La Salle running back Tiapepe Vitale looked to have little interest in keeping things close as he took over his team’s final drive of the first quarter, which culminated in 12-yard trot into the end zone early in the second period.
From that point on, it was all Spartans, as they forced three turnovers in the first half alone (including a fumble returned for a touchdown by defensive back Alex Buckley) and led 42-0 at the intermission.
Even as it has become en vogue for coaches to shy away from praising their teams publicly, Coach Ladoceur was eager to hand out accolades to various units
“Our offensive line played well. Our running game looked better. I thought Bart did a good job and our defense continues to do well.”
As De La Salle awaits the winner of Saturday night’s matchup between Berkeley High and Pittsburgh High, they are sure to be favored in either matchup. The coach has the confidence of a man who’s won a big game or two before.
“I just hope we keep up what we did tonight,” said Ladoceur. “I thought we played well.”
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De La Salle 70, Freedom 7
Freedom 0 0 0 7 — 0
De La Salle 7 35 14 14 — 70
Scoring summary
8:55, 1st: DLS — Houston 1 run (Kuzbari kick)
10:46, 2nd: DLS — Vitale 12 run (Kuzbari kick)
7:35, 2nd: DLS — Teo 2 run (Kuzbari kick )
4:37, 2nd: DLS — Houston 14 run (Kuzbari kick)
1:28, 2nd: DLS — Houston 14 pass Hooper (Kubari kick)
1:13, 2nd: DLS — Bucklet 19 fumble return (Kubari kick)
6:22, 3rd: DLS — Vitale 12 run (Kuzbari kick)
5:13, 3rd: DLS — Perros 3 run (Kuzbari kick)
11:30, 4th: DLS — Perros 1 run (Kuzbari kick)
9:00, 4th: F — Daniels 98 kickoff return (Cantabrana kick)
6:30, 4th: DLS — Riopelle 64 run (Lonestar kick)
Records: Freedom 10-2, 4-1 BVAL. De La Salle 10-1, 7-0 EBAL.
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