CONCORD — De La Salle’s postseason aspirations only begin with winning another North Coast Section championship. The ultimate goal is to reclaim the state championship that has gone to Southern California powers Mater Dei and St. John Bosco the past three years.
The Spartans took a step in that direction by handling business on Friday night, dismantling Amador Valley, 69-14 to advance to the Division I semifinals.
“I was happy with our performance,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “Kids played hard. Overall, it was a good night. Whenever you play a team that was a league champion and you do something like we did tonight, it’s a positive for sure.”
Of the Spartans’ many stars on Friday night, Dorian Hale was the brightest, putting together a brilliant all-around performance. With his arm, Hale only needed to complete 6 of 10 passes to amass 211 passing yards and four touchdowns. Hale also showed off his speed, totaling 64 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
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“He’s worked hard to get where he is,” Alumbaugh said. “The results kind of show. Tough runner, putting the ball on the money, making good decisions. He’s playing at a pretty high level right now.”
Hale’s teammates were just as stellar. Shamar Garrett caught two of Hale’s touchdown passes and had a rushing touchdown of his own. Backup quarterback Sam Odell had a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half.
Lu Magia Hearns and Ezekiel Berry each hauled in one receiving touchdown, while Damonie Perkins and Terryon Ellis both chipped in a rushing touchdown.
The Spartans’ defense got in on the action too as Lance Hackett and James Coby both came away with an interception.
With the game being so lopsided — De La Salle led by 35 at the end of the first quarter and 55 at the half — every Spartan got an opportunity to see the field.
“Everybody on our team played tonight,” Alumbaugh said. “A lot of people got a lot of experience. We get to get them on film and see what was good and bad in that regard too. It’s always a great experience.”
As evidenced by the final score, the Spartans scored early and often. Very often. Here’s a rundown of the first half:
Hale to Garrett. 71 yards. 7-0.
Hale to Hearns. 25 yards. 14-0.
52-yard run by Garrett. 21-0.
57-yard run by Hale. 28-0.
Hale to Berry. 40 yards. 35-0. End of first quarter.
Hale to Garrett. 33 yards. 42-0.
18-yard run by Perkins. 49-0.
Six-yard run by Ellis. Missed PAT. 55-0. End of first half.
Amador Valley, to its credit, continued to compete in the second half despite the game well out of reach. The Dons scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives; Kannon Dote scrambled six yards for one score, then connected with Eric Hunter III for the other.
“We kinda stayed true to who we were and we kept battling,” Amador Valley coach Danny Jones said. “It was great to get some touchdowns, get some scores on the board. That’s just this team, this senior class.”
Amador Valley’s season may have ended on a tough note, but that doesn’t take away from an otherwise successful season. The Dons won their first league championship in 15 years and have also recorded back-to-back eight-win seasons for the first time in the MaxPreps era (2004-present).
Jones, who now has a 26-18 record with Amador Valley since taking over in 2016, expressed his pleasure regarding the program’s trajectory.
“We wanted to change the culture and that’s what we wanted to do,” Jones said. “We’re getting there now. You can see it with the way we practice, you can see it in the weight room, you can see it with the talent that we have coming up.”
De La Salle now turns its attention to next Friday’s semifinals. The Spartans will play Monte Vista, which narrowly defeated San Ramon Valley 9-6, thanks to a game-winning field goal by Nathan Price with 4.2 seconds remaining.
