De La Salle opens with a Texas-size challenge

[1315]

Tram- not implying any societal issues between Sacto and Euless, only referring to the fact the Tongan community was so strong , no pun intended, at Trinity for a good while as that NY Times article was from '08. It may have been a factor in Sacto as long or longer. If so, my bad.

 

[G61]

I am not back tracking. I think you are now.

Go watch the ESPN broadcast. They tout DLS as the NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY MULTIPLE TIMES.

Just get over it. It's one loss. Geez. This is the exact reason why people hate DLS fans. Totally belligerent group of middle aged men.

If they would have won, all of you would have been on here touting yourselves as the number one team in the country. Now that they lose to a outside the top 50 team, the excuse is, "well they weren't REALLY the number one team!"

Unbelievable. Just move on.

 

[G61]

Excuses from DLS fans that I have heard ON THIS FORUM in the last day:

It was the first game of the year
We didn't tackle
We made poor decisions
We can't throw
The announcers were bias (really!?)
We weren't REALLY the #1 team in the nation
We fumbled too many times
Our athletes aren't as "athletic" as those in Texas
We made too many mental errors
Clock management
We're still a "storied" program
Their line is conditioned
Their QB is a monster
They don't play both ways
They have Ja'Ron Wilson
***Hatchball- "They aren't excuses, they are analysis!"

Un-be-liev-able

 

[Rmbr26]

"DLS fans are a totally belligerant group of middle aged men"[?].

Geez & all along I thought they were a pretty good group of guys who just liked football. Hmm, guess I was wrong...

 

[G61]

"DLS fans are a totally belligerant group of middle aged men"[?].

Geez & all along I thought they were a pretty good group of guys who just liked football. Hmm, guess I was wrong...

I really wish that was the case

 

[Hatchball]

Excuses from DLS fans that I have heard ON THIS FORUM in the last day:

It was the first game of the year
We didn't tackle
We made poor decisions
We can't throw
The announcers were bias (really!?)
We weren't REALLY the #1 team in the nation
We fumbled too many times
Our athletes aren't as "athletic" as those in Texas
We made too many mental errors
Clock management
We're still a "storied" program
Their line is conditioned
Their QB is a monster
They don't play both ways
They have Ja'Ron Wilson
***Hatchball- "They aren't excuses, they are analysis!"

Un-be-liev-able

lol u mad bro?

"The wicked envy and hate; it is their way of admiring." We all know you wish you had a team like DLS to call your own.

 

[G61]

lol u mad bro?

"The wicked envy and hate; it is their way of admiring." We all know you wish you had a team like DLS to call your own.

I have a better one to call my own ☺
You mad bro?

 

[ThunderRam]

Tram- not implying any societal issues between Sacto and Euless, only referring to the fact the Tongan community was so strong , no pun intended, at Trinity for a good while as that NY Times article was from '08. It may have been a factor in Sacto as long or longer. If so, my bad.

Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. I played and coached against Grant Union in the late 80's and Del Paso Heights had a strong Tongan / Pacfic Islander community back then.

 

[Hatchball]

I have a better one to call my own ☺
You mad bro?

Not at all, I'm actually glad you're here because many of us need someone who's an expert in dealing with coming in second to help us understand how to cope

 

[G61]

I got it all from each in DLS last night ☺

 

[bodyguard]

Where they were ranked is neither here nor there. It doesn't really matter. Most people would have put them in the top 5 nationally.

They were beat by a team that was considered outside the top 50.

I don't see DLS going back yo Texas anytime soon except maybe to visit the Cracker Barrel ☺

Really... who considered them outside the top 50? Which poll? They were 36 in the NationalHSFootball site. USAToday, MaxPreps human poll and PrepNation are all top 25 only. SO who again ranked them outside the top 50?

 

[G61]

The same people who apparently didn't have DLS ranked #1, as people on this thread have said...

I think you are missing the point. Time to move on.

 

[LMRJONES]

De La Salles defense looked like a pile of flying squirrels. There were multiple instances where the Dls defenders would have made a tackle or would have forced the ball carrier out of bounds had they not dove. There were a few plays where the ball carrier actually did make some good plays but the Dls tackling was the worst I have ever witnessed.

he rite

 

[LMRJONES]

Really... who considered them outside the top 50? Which poll? They were 36 in the NationalHSFootball site. USAToday, MaxPreps human poll and PrepNation are all top 25 only. SO who again ranked them outside the top 50?

National Polls/Ranking for High School is just plain guessing (and that has more to do with tradition than anything else). No possible way to get it right (or even close). Enjoy it for the hype it brings for the fans - but it's really non-sense

 

[thehookup55]

The excuses are all the normal ones for when the favorite team loses. My favorite is Trinity didnt beat DLS, DLS beat DLS. Get out of here!! DLS screwed up on several plays and Trinity capitalized on DLS mistakes. Thats part of football and thats what good teams do. No doubt DLS played sloppy but Trinity capitalized on that. Hats off to Trinity. Looked like a great atmosphere to be playing in.

I still think DLS is the top team in NorCal though. No reason they should stop testing themselves against top teams from different states. It was a good football game and it came down to the end. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

 

[colhenrylives]

Agree. DLS will be fine.

 

[G61]

The excuses are all the normal ones for when the favorite team loses. My favorite is Trinity didnt beat DLS, DLS beat DLS. Get out of here!! DLS screwed up on several plays and Trinity capitalized on DLS mistakes. Thats part of football and thats what good teams do. No doubt DLS played sloppy but Trinity capitalized on that. Hats off to Trinity. Looked like a great atmosphere to be playing in.

I still think DLS is the top team in NorCal though. No reason they should stop testing themselves against top teams from different states. It was a good football game and it came down to the end. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

It was a fun game to watch, no doubt.

I was pretty shocked at the responses and excuses after the loss this weekend. I can only imagine what it will be like if they somehow lose again. It will be like the sky is falling! LOL

But on a serious note...They will be fine. I still see them as the favorite in Norcal. Should be interesting

 

[sammyswordsman]

DLS usually has better Athletes combined with more size on the lines

On Sat the shoe was on the other foot

 

[Cal 14]

Ok, so here are my thoughts after having watched both games at that beautiful Texas stadium...

1. Arlington Martin reminded me a lot of a bigger Marin Catholic. Fundamentally sound, but not especially exciting. From what it sounds this team will be about a quarterfinalist to borderline semifinalist in Texas 6A.

2. If Martin is a quarterfinalist, Trinity will at least be a semifinalist, if not win the whole thing in Texas. Both DLS and Trinity were much faster than the Warriors.

3. The DLS tackling was poor, but the two ball carriers for Trinity were really big. Someone here said that they looked skinny. I recorded the game, so I'll go back and watch to verify, but at least live, the RB only looked somewhat smaller than their QB, who was 230-240 lbs. He certainly looked bigger than Custer. The only time they got wrapped up at the point of attack was when the Spartan D-line got a hold of them. The smaller LBs couldn't do that for whatever reason. Poor technique, or trying to tackle someone bigger than you? Probably a combination of the two.

4. The DLS passing was poor, no question. There were the three big plays where the WRs were wide open. That's not Trinity stopping DLS, that really is DLS stopping DLS. I believe that by mid-season, this will be worked out and they'll be extremely formidable once again because of that extra dimension.

5. Despite being bigger, the Trinity D-line never really got pressure on Sweeney, which makes his passing woes that much more frustrating. The Texas guys on the national board keep going on about how the 2-way players were getting worn down, but even late in the game, those same players who were on both the D- and O-lines still never allowed pressure late in the game.

6. Both teams made mistakes. Both teams had fumbles. Both teams had penalties. I believe the main difference in the game was that Trinity was able to stay within their gameplan better than DLS could. In a lot of cases, that wouldn't have been a big deal, since DLS generally can throw when they need to do so.

7. Despite all of the great plays and errors both teams had, it came down to one play. That's not a demonstration that one team was obviously better than the other. One team won, that's it. The better team doesn't always win. I don't know how much more of the Trinity offense exists beyond what was shown, but having watched DLS since 1997, I know they have a lot more. If these two were to play again, I wouldn't bet against DLS.

8. For all of the California people bitching and moaning on this board, the Texas fans on the national board have been almost unanimously respectful of the Spartans. They all profess to being very impressed and becoming new fans. Granted, if DLS wins the CIF Open title, they can then say they beat out state champ, but even if they don't, I don't think their opinions would change much.

I'm disappointed in the loss, too. I know that the Spartans left a lot of points on the board, but I also recognize that Trinity is very formidable. As disappointed as I am in the result of the game, I'm equally disappointed by the responses by a lot of NorCal people on this board. The Folsom dude, I understand, but most of the rest... not so much. If you are so concerned about the image of California football, call your team's AD and have them schedule some out-of-state games to "recover" the California mystique. Until then...

By the way, I took some great shots of the lightning behind the stadium in case anyone is interested. I can't tell if there's an IM function on this new message board, but we can figure something out if someone would like to see them.

 

[Scott2138]

In the end, DLS is still a great program.....you can't win them all, but DLS is as close as a program ever will be in California. It is a huge feat to even play a team in TEXAS where sports is king to everything. DLS is high school football at its' best and no one can claim or take that away from them. Beating themselves is the only thing they usually do not do.

 

[ThunderRam]

CAL 14 -- great summary, nice analysis. I agree with pretty much all you had to say, especially the 2nd to last paragraph with regard to the responses from many from this message board as well as some others.

You know that I am not a DLS guy, but I certainly have major respect for the program they've built and maintained. When they aren't facing a SJS program, I root for them as I do ALL NorCal programs anytime they play outside the sandbox. On the National boards, I'm quick to offer context to those that don't understand the history behind "the streaks" and how they were achieved w/o playing Regional/State playoffs all those years -- basically defending NorCal's reputation to those that take shots simply because they see 151 and 260 and conclude that our boys can't play football North of the Grapevine.

In short, I don't sugarcoat things when it comes to DLS and am a realist. That said, I cannot at all understand all the negativity regarding their close loss. It's far past ridiculous. As I stated previously, some are behaving as if the Spartans lost 38-6 and were clearly outmatched. Instead, they led most the game and had a shot to win in the end in spite of all the self-inflicted mistakes they made. Other than the uncharacteristic penalties and ball handling miscues, DLS had absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Neither does NorCal.

 

[FBAddict]

The same people who apparently didn't have DLS ranked #1, as people on this thread have said...

I think you are missing the point. Time to move on.

True to form - I can see when you think its time to move on... When the kitchen get a little too hot, you think all the cooks should leave with you.

 

[G61]

True to form - I can see when you think its time to move on... When the kitchen get a little too hot, you think all the cooks should leave with you.

You are a little late to the party lol

 

[slick58]

Had to bump this. In this thread I questioned the decision of DLS to clock it on 2&14 in this game. I think we all saw what the Giants did on Sunday night. 3rd down attempting to run out the clock or score and put the ballgame away. Veteran coach with multiple Super Bowl victories, veteran qb with multiple Super Bowl victories, assistants and coordinators who have been around the game their whole lives. What do the Giants do? Instead of running the clock down they throw it on 3rd down and stop the clock giving Dallas the ball back with time. DLS was actually pressed for time and the Giants had all the time in the world. My point is that it can happen to even the best of them. It's even arguable that DLS made the correct decision because I believe they had a chance to score the next play.

 

[G61]

This loss is old news. Move on...really

 

[slick58]

This loss is old news. Move on...really

I didn't know there was an expiration date for me to correct something I said.

 

[ThunderRam]

It's even arguable that DLS made the correct decision because I believe they had a chance to score the next play.

Still didn't like the decision. Why waste a play? Why couldn't you run a sprint pass with an endzone route and a short sideline route. If the long route comes open due to the chaos, you throw it. If it doesn't you throw the sideline pass or throw it out of bounds if neither are there. You take another 4-5 seconds off the clock but at least have the possibility of gaining yards. With 35-40 seconds (or whatever it was) remaining, that's a better tactic. Every team should have an audible they can call in that kind of hurry up situation e.g. Marino's fake spike play.

 

[Bubba3000]

I think clocking the ball in this situation exposed one of Alumbaugh's biggest weaknesses, clock management.

 

[Cal 14]

I think clocking the ball in this situation exposed one of Alumbaugh's biggest weaknesses, clock management.

This wasn't a normal clock-management situation. They found themselves in a spot that they really didn't expect. If I am remembering this situation clearly, it was right after a muffed snap, right? The same play in which the Trojans were running a player off the field (and didn't make it) before the snap?

I'd say that the chaos that was created by the fumble would have cost them a lot of time, had they tried to reorganize and run a play. Spiking the ball allowed for the shock to settle so that they could do more forward thinking.

Pretty easy being armchair head coaches from 1600 miles away.

 

[ThunderRam]

This wasn't a normal clock-management situation. They found themselves in a spot that they really didn't expect. .

That exactly why you have a plan for a situation like that. Every team I've been a part of had a quick hitting "clock" play that the QB could go to in a running clock situation. I know DLS isn't much of a passing team, but if they don't practice something like that, I think we finally found a chink in the armor of their typically flawless preparation.

 

[observer22]

That exactly why you have a plan for a situation like that. Every team I've been a part of had a quick hitting "clock" play that the QB could go to in a running clock situation. I know DLS isn't much of a passing team, but if they don't practice something like that, I think we finally found a chink in the armor of their typically flawless preparation.

And DLS is not in very many games where they are down in the final minute. This mistake may very well help prepare them for a future close game somewhere down the line if they can learn from it.

 

[ThunderRam]

And DLS is not in very many games where they are down in the final minute. This mistake may very well help prepare them for a future close game somewhere down the line if they can learn from it.

You make a good point, but it's not something used just in a end of game situation. It can come into play at the end of the 1st half as well.