Delighting in De La Salle

Running back Maurice Drew has played a major role in De La Salle's recent success. However, Drew was injured Friday and might not play against St. Louis. Dean Coppola • Courtesy of Contra Costa Times

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci makes it a point every fall to visit De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., just to watch a Spartans football practice.

And Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, who had coached the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001, would get so excited whenever talking about De La Salle's program, he'd end up leaping from his seat by the end of the conversation.

That is the kind of respect De La Salle has earned, even from NFL brass. The respect and wonderment go far beyond the Bay Area and the football world, even to college basketball legend John Wooden, who expressed his admiration for De La Salle's success.

This is what happens when a program wins 126 games in a row over a span of 11 seasons, as De La Salle has. "The Streak," as it is routinely called in the Bay Area, represents one of the most amazing feats in the entire sports world, not just high schools.

And, after the Spartans' 24-0 victory over Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) Friday night, it's still going strong.

'Could snap at any time'

Kahuku owns Hawai'i's longest current win streak, at 26 games. The Red Raiders narrowly got No. 26 Friday night by holding off McKinley, 14-13.

Their streak is in its third season, but to match De La Salle's, they would need to go undefeated until the year 2008.

"There's two things that I still don't get," Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai said after Friday's game. "One is (St. Louis coach) Cal Lee's 14 (Prep Bowl/state) championships in a row. The other is De La Salle's streak. Just for me to get to 26, man ... I cannot imagine winning 100 more. I respect those guys big time, my hat's off to them. To stay focused like that from week to week, it's a rocky road, because like we saw tonight, it could snap at any time."

What makes the De La Salle streak even more impressive is how few teams have even come close to snapping it. Out of the 126 victories, only four were by 14 points or less. The closest call came on Sept. 23, 2000, when the Spartans escaped a 31-28 scare from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

But even in that game, De La Salle led 21-0 after one quarter and 31-14 after three.

The average score of a Spartans game during the streak is 48-9.

Because De La Salle's first 78 victories in The Streak all came against Northern California opponents, some critics argued that it was built on cupcake schedules. Although those 78 foes included established programs like Skyline (Oakland) and Nevada Union (Grass Valley), it was acknowledged that the overall talent pool up north did not match that of Southern California's.

So in 1998, the Spartans traveled to Anaheim to face powerhouse Mater Dei, and De La Salle won, 28-21. Mater Dei was crowned National Champion by USA Today twice in the 1990s and was ranked in the top 10 at the time of the 1998 game.

The following year, the teams played again in Stockton, Calif., and De La Salle won, 42-0.

The Spartans had a close call in win No. 101, a 30-24 victory over Buchanan of Clovis, Calif. Buchanan, which had beaten Iolani, 37-0, the week before, was driving into De La Salle territory for the potential game-tying touchdown but lost the ball on downs with about three minutes remaining.

The 31-28 victory over Mater Dei came two weeks later, and the Spartans beat Mater Dei again, 34-6, last season. Two weeks after that game, De La Salle, ranked No. 2 by USA Today at the time, traveled south to face No. 1-ranked Long Beach Poly.

Despite a strong challenge, the Spartans won, 29-15.

That was win No. 117 in a row.

Model of consistency

The De La Salle program, of course, is about more than The Streak. After all, two games before The Streak began, the Spartans had won for the 34th straight time. That means De La Salle actually has won 160 of its past 161 games dating to 1989.

To go back even further, in the 10 seasons before The Streak started, the Spartans went 117-7-1.

Much of the credit for De La Salle's success goes to head coach Bob Ladouceur and his longtime staff.

"When Tony LaRussa was managing the (Oakland) A's, he twice used Lad's speeches to motivate his team," said Neil Hayes, a Contra Costa Times columnist who has followed the De La Salle program since 1990. "He was intensely interested in how Lad was able to win so consistently, he said you just never see it anywhere else. He said, 'Every coach in the country can learn from Bob Ladouceur.'"

The Spartans no doubt have had their share of talented players. Their list of alumni includes New York Giants receiver Amani Toomer, former Outland Trophy winner Aaron Taylor and University of Miami linebacker D.J. Williams, who was regarded as the nation's top recruit in 2000.

But the majority of De La Salle's players are not "super stud" athletes. While Hawai'i's powerhouse programs like St. Louis, Kahuku and Kamehameha routinely carry rosters of 100 players or more, this year's Spartans roster lists only 47 players — a typical number.

Kahuku and Long Beach Poly each had six players earn NCAA Division I scholarships last year; De La Salle had three. The biggest Spartan this year is lineman Erik Sandie, who is 6 feet 1 and 255 pounds. Most De La Salle players are needed on offense and defense.

"They beat you with the average kid," Hayes said. "But the team is so much greater than its parts. They have 11 guys just busting their (tails) on every play, going as hard as they can and as fast as they can."

And that isn't only during the game. The players are involved in an intense conditioning program that starts the day after Christmas break and doesn't end until the season is over in December.

Practices feature heavy repetition, with drills aimed for perfection. The result is a well-oiled machine that turns routine plays — out of an otherwise simple veer option offense — into spectacular ones.

"They are so fundamentally sound," Long Beach Poly coach Raul Lara said, "and they execute so well." Poly defensive coordinator Jeff Turley added:

"When you watch their film, you can hit the pause button at the snap, and they're all getting off the ball at exactly the same time, moving in exactly the same direction. I haven't even seen college teams execute plays like that."

One play at a time, one game at a time. One hundred twenty-six games in a row.