CONCORD — Playing high school football for a high-profile program sometimes requires short-term memory. A bad game one week can be erased by a good one the next.
Dorian Hale knows the feeling.
The De La Salle quarterback had a rough go at it in a season-opening loss to St. Thomas Aquinas-Florida — USA Today’s top-ranked team in the nation — but turned the page a week later with an impressive performance Friday in a win at Central Catholic-Modesto.
In other words, Hale looked more like himself last week, which is good news for the Spartans.
A physical but young St. Francis team visits De La Salle on Friday night, then the Spartans return to the road next week for a heavyweight clash against high-powered Folsom.
Hale completed 15 of 23 passes, which included a few drops, for 230 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-14 rout of Central Catholic. He also ran for 33 yards and a touchdown.
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“He just played a lot more calm,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “He kind of panicked a little bit against Aquinas. We’ve talked about that. I think he was trying to put a little bit too much pressure on himself, trying to make too many things happen. Wasn’t really letting the game come to him.
“Last week he was calm and cool and collected, and that’s how he normally is. He’s normally a pretty even-keeled kid.”
Hale started last season as a sophomore and has taken snaps in two Open Division state championships games. He said the key last week was staying confident.
The Bay Area Preps HQ preseason Fab Forty selection has played against teams the caliber of Aquinas and done well. In De La Salle’s 35-21 state-championship loss to Mater Dei-Santa Ana last December, Hale threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
“The rough outing against St. Thomas Aquinas, you’ve just got to put that behind you,” Hale said. “At the end of the day, it’s a high school game. We just came together as a team, kept the same approach — how we just need to beat every other team in NorCal — and we just felt a lot more comfortable with each other, as a team and we did a lot better that game.”
Teammate Lu Magia Hearns was particularly proud of Hale.
“Seeing Dorian’s play after coming off a hard week the first game was kind of encouraging,” Hearns said. “I personally tried to consult with him a lot. Even after the (Aquinas) game, I tried to text him and told him you got to have a short-term memory. Everybody has bad games. You’ve just got to shake it off and go play the rest of the season.”
St. Francis is coming off a 42-14 loss at home to Corona del Mar and its Washington commit quarterback Ethan Garbers, an outcome that probably would have been tighter had St. Francis converted two early drives.
De La Salle is anticipating a third consecutive physical battle against the traditional Mountain View power, which graduated 33 seniors from last year’s team, including defensive end Joshua Pakola, now at Stanford.
“I know they graduated a lot of guys, but they repopulated with a lot of guys, too,” Alumbaugh said. “Their line is massive. It’s huge. They’re physical. They’re a bunch of maulers. I was talking to coach (Bob) Ladouceur earlier today and he goes, ‘Old-school football. You got I-formation and we’ve got the veer.’ They’re smash-mouth.
“If you put on film from them last year and this year, there is very little difference.”
