Northern California football showdown at De La Salle this Friday
CONCORD, CA (Sept. 2, 2024) — It’s only the second week of the season, but when De La Salle hosts rival Serra-San Mateo this Friday the No. 1 spot in Northern California high school football will be at stake in Concord. The winner will take a big step towards securing post-season seeding rights.
Both parochial schools won their season openers last Friday with DLS beating Sacramento power Grant 42-14 and Serra rallying in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter with nine unanswered points separated by a successful onside kick for a dramatic 22-21 win at NorCal’s previously top-ranked Folsom.
The 7:30 p.m. game Friday at Owen Owens Field will pit the two teams who have represented Northern California in the past 14 CIF State Open Division Bowl Games. Perennial power De La Salle was NorCal’s Open Division team from 2009 to 2019 before the abbreviated 2020 Covid season was held without playoffs.
Since bowl games returned in 2021, Serra has been in the State Open Division championship game the past three years, getting outscored 144-7 by SoCal’s Big 2 of Mater Dei and Saint John Bosco. This followed those two national powers beating DLS in the previous four Open title games.
Serra is coached by De La Salle alumnus and Hall of Famer Patrick Walsh. Because of the close relationship between the two schools and coaching staffs, they typically did not schedule one another but that changed in 2022, and the Padres have defeated the Concord school the past two years, including last year’s 28-0 shutout in San Mateo.
Folsom and Serra are the only Northern California teams to win two consecutive games over De La Salle since the 1980s.
Check out this week’s local high school Football Scores Update.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.