SAN MATEO — Tom Brady is undoubtedly the most famous player ever to grace the football field at Serra High School.
But on Saturday, it was another Brady – De La Salle’s Brady Smith – who put his stamp on the field at Brady Family Stadium.
Smith, a senior running back and defensive back for the Spartans, raced down the right sideline for a 69-yard touchdown late in De La Salle’s road romp over the Padres, punctuating a dominant performance with the Spartans’ final score in a 26-0 win.
“It felt amazing,” said Smith, who has no known relation to Tom Brady. “Going on limited carries, I really wanted to make the most of everything I got. It just felt really awesome to take it to the crib and take advantage of it.”
De La Salle (2-0) had pretty much everything working on Saturday, including its robust backfield that features an outstanding group of running backs.
Duece Jones-Drew and Jaden Jefferson, both future college players, were the headliners. But De La Salle also received quality contributions from Smith, Jamal Johnson-Lucas and Greg Jones.
“You can never have too many good O-linemen and running backs,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said.
De La Salle drew first blood in the first quarter, when Johnson-Lucas ran in a 6-yard TD to give the Spartans the initial lead. De La Salle added to its lead in the second quarter when quarterback Brayden Knight joined the rushing attack with a perfectly executed read option keeper to walk into the end zone from five yards out.
The Spartans continued to methodically grind down the Padres (0-2) in the second half. Knight executed another keeper to end a 12-play drive with a 3-yard score, then Smith came through with the offensive highlight of the afternoon to seal it in the fourth.
“They’re just bigger, stronger and faster than most teams in this area,” said Serra coach Patrick Walsh, a De La Salle alumnus himself. “They’ve been doing that for decades.”
Smith, who was the MVP of De La Salle’s junior varsity team as a sophomore and was pulled up to varsity for the playoffs, did not play football his junior year while traveling extensively to play high-level lacrosse. He decided to come back for his senior season, and the Spartans are thrilled to have him back.
“He just didn’t think he could make the commitment,” Alumbaugh said. “It wasn’t because he didn’t love the game or anything. He was a really good player. I was not surprised to see him break that. He’s been doing it in practice a lot.”
Smith couldn’t be happier with the results.
“During the play, it was desperation,” Smith said. “Like, ‘This is my play. I need to take this to the house. I need to score.’ And as I felt the field open up and I felt that last guy fall off behind me, it was everything. I was happy. I was kind of regretful that I left for a year. Mostly, it just felt amazing to be back and show who I am.”
De La Salle also brought its defense to San Mateo, which is quickly establishing itself as one of the best in Northern California. The Spartans held a potent Lakeland (Fla.) team to just six points in their opener last week, and Saturday lowered their season average even further.
“Our defense is playing lights out,” said Alumbaugh, a linebacker during his playing days at DLS. “Coach (Ned) Milin, our D-coordinator, the whole staff, they’re doing a great job. A lot of guys are flying around. There’s a lot of physicality, and there’s a lot of hitters on that defense, which I like.”
Saturday’s game had echoes of the two teams’ matchup in 2023. In that game, which was also at Serra, the Padres made a statement with a 28-0 win that showed they were the most dominant team in NorCal at the time.
De La Salle is pretty clearly back on the mountaintop after representing NorCal in the CIF Open Division title game last season. The Spartans may be poised to do it again this year.
“Walking off that field with the ass-kicking they put on us was one of the low moments of my career,” Alumbaugh said of 2023. “Man. And that was an outstanding team. That team was better than we were, but not by that much. That was a real disappointing feeling.
“Today, our kids played their tails off. We didn’t play perfectly. There’s a lot that we need to work on. But our physicality and our effort, if you walk off the field as a De La Salle coach and you saw physicality and effort, then you’re a happy camper.”
