PLEASANT HILL – This one seemed different.
This one looked as if Pittsburg was actually going to reach the mountaintop, that the Pirates were about to end 33 years of chasing, 33 years of trying to match what the school’s 1991 team achieved, 33 years of De La Salle’s dominance within the North Coast Section.
It was there for the taking on a rainy Friday night at Diablo Valley College. Pittsburg had a great shot, maybe its best shot, to finally beat De La Salle for the first time since Dec. 7, 1991.
But control was fleeting. Pittsburg dominated the third quarter – piling up yardage and eating up clock – but had nothing to show for it. The Pirates were unable to take advantage of multiple scoring opportunities that would have extended their four-point halftime lead.
That proved costly.
When the fourth quarter arrived, the crack that Pittsburg left in the door was smashed in by Dominic Kelley’s running and an offensive line that finally got the push it had been searching for all game.
“Ultimately our offensive line was able to start winning the day and, man, Dom Kelley, he ran his ass off,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “That was awesome.”
Drenched by the pouring rain, De La Salle’s Dominic Kelley #21 cradles the ball while scoring the winning touchdown on a 35-yard run against Pittsburg in the fourth quarter of the NorCal Open football championship, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
In the closest of its 34 consecutive victories over Pittsburg since the 1991 loss, De La Salle celebrated a 10-7 win that ended with the Spartans taking a knee on the doorstep of the goal line after burning the final seven minutes from the clock.
Instead of a historic Pittsburg victory, Kelley hoisted the NCS Open Division championship trophy as teammates chanted his name. The senior finished with 171 yards in 18 carries, giving him 2,000 yards for his career.
“It’s a special team,” Kelley said. “These are my brothers. These are my family. I had to do it for them. I love these guys.”
The play that won the championship, Kelley’s 35-yard fourth-quarter run filled with grit, determination and athletic firepower, was the most rudimentary of calls in the DLS playbook.
“It’s the first play they learn as freshmen,” Alumbaugh said. “It’s ‘Twelve Veer Give.’ We’re not even giving anybody the option about what’s going on. We’re saying, ‘You’re handing the ball off to Dom.’ And we’re telling the offensive line to get off the ball.”
Until Kelley took over down the stretch, Pittsburg had the look of a team destined to end the last of De La Salle’s streaks. The Concord powerhouse’s national-record 151-game winning streak ended against Bellevue, Wash., 20 years ago. Its 318-game unbeaten streak against regional opponents was snapped by St. Francis in 2021.
The NCS streak now stands at 277-0-1.
Pittsburg quarterback Marley Alcantara passes against De La Salle in the first half of the NorCal Open football championship, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Pittsburg led 7-3 at halftime, got the ball to start the third quarter and went on a marathon drive that ended with a fumble deep in De La Salle territory.
When De La Salle fumbled the ball back, Pittsburg could not turn the giveaway into points.
“We were driving all the way down the field, being able to control the ball, but little mistakes, you know, little mistakes,” Pirates quarterback Marley Alcantara said.
Little mistakes magnify against an opponent like De La Salle, which improved to 12-0 and is a lock to play Southern California’s top team, probably Mater Dei-Santa Ana, for the Open Division state championship on Dec. 14.
De La Salle lineman Matthew Johnson, a four-star talent committed to Oregon, said “want and desire” was what it took to survive the third quarter and give the Spartans a chance in the fourth.
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“That team came to play and they gave us a run for our money,” Johnson said. “But we made the decision in the second half that we wanted it. They’re a physical team. We were just missing opportunities. We weren’t coming up when we needed to.”
When they had to, the Spartans made the play, whether that be forcing a key punt midway through the fourth quarter (Pittsburg never got the ball back) or Kelley making one big run after another. It was similar to last season’s NCS Open final, when De La Salle trailed San Ramon Valley 7-3 after three quarters but rallied to win 17-7.
“We played with desire in the second half,” Johnson added. “But it was by no means a crisp game. We need to clean up a lot of things going into the state championship.”
De La Salle cheerleaders wear rain ponchos during the rainy NorCal Open football championship against Pittsburg, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)