CONCORD, CA (September 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 seed in Northern California high school football is on the line in Concord. The winner will take a big step toward securing postseason seeding rights.
Both parochial schools won their opening games of the season last Friday, with DLS beating Sacramento power Grant 42-14 and Serra rallied in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter with nine unanswered points, separated by a successful onside kick, to pull off a dramatic 22-21 victory at NorCal’s previously top-ranked Folsom.
Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Owen Owens Field will pit the two teams that have represented Northern California in the last 14 CIF State Open Division Bowl Games. Perennial powerhouse De La Salle was NorCal’s Open Division team from 2009-19 before the Covid-shortened 2020 season with no playoffs.
Since bowl games resumed in 2021, Serra has appeared in the State Open Division championship game for the past three years, getting beaten 144-7 by SoCal’s Big 2, Mater Dei and Saint John Bosco. Previously, those two nationally top teams had beaten DLS in the previous four Open title games.
Serra is coached by Patrick Walsh, a former De La Salle student and Hall of Fame member. Because of the close relationship between the two schools and coaching staffs, they typically have not scheduled games against each other, but that changed in 2022, and the Padres have defeated the Concord school the past two years, including last year’s 28-0 victory in San Mateo.
Folsom and Serra are the only Northern California teams since the 1980s to win two consecutive games against De La Salle.
Check out this week’s update on local high school football scores.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his career as a newspaper writer while a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and has been part of the Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay is also a Bay Area Festivals organizer and presents events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including the annual Bay Area KidFest in Downtown Concord.
