25 Nov Pittsburg High Football Loses NCS Finals to Powerhouse De La Salle

The Pittsburg High captains walk on the field before the game Nov. 21 for the coin toss. The Pirates would go on to lose to the De La Salle Spartans.

Story and photos by Joe Porrello

The Pittsburg High Pirates varsity football team lost a closely contested North Coast Section Open Division finals game 24-17 against the De La Salle (Concord) Spartans on Nov. 21 in Pleasant Hill.

In a rematch of the top two NCS seeds from the title bout last season that De La Salle won 10-7, Pittsburg High again kept it close but couldn’t come away with the win. With the victory, the Spartans continued their streak of 33 straight years winning an NCS title.

“We haven’t been challenged like that in a while,” said Spartans senior linebacker Bubba Vargas. “They made us prove it tonight.”

 

Facing off on neutral turf at Diablo Valley College, the Pirates entered ranked No. 23 in California; the Spartans, No. 4 statewide and No. 15 nationwide. Over 1,000 fans lined both sides of the bleachers on a cold night where condensation rose from players’ pads like a thin layer of smoke.

“It’s a great community, as you can see — our stands were packed out,” said Pirates senior linebacker Jopheth Tofaeono. “Pitt always comes and brings it hard for us, and I’m just thankful for all of that.”

On their opening drive, the Pirates missed their first of two field goals, which proved to be costly. 

De La Salle followed, needing only three plays to cross the goal line, as senior running back Brayden Smith broke open the scoring with a rushing touchdown. Spartans senior kicker Justin Uribarri knocked through the point after to make it 7-0 and was perfect on the day going three-of-three on points after touchdowns, while also making his only field goal attempt.

On the ensuing drive, Pittsburg High turned the ball over after coming up one yard short of the endzone on fourth-and-goal. Early in the second quarter, the Pirates tied it up on a touchdown via ground from senior running back Siotame Finau.

 

The Spartans quickly answered with a 52-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Brayden Knight, who only threw five passes and made two completions on the evening.

His counterpart, sophomore Pirates quarterback Javale Jones, completed 31 of 45 passes to nine different receivers for a total of 309 yards and threw a long touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Kenneth Ward, tying the game at 14 late in the second quarter. Jones has been starting in place of injured senior Carlos Torres, who leads the team with 26 total touchdowns.

 

De La Salle again responded quickly as senior running back Jayden Jefferson ran in a touchdown from 50 yards out. Jefferson finished with a game-high 118 yards rushing on 10 carries and added a 40-yard catch. 

“I was surprised to see the ball moving that quickly, but that’s a testament to both programs,” said Spartans head coach Justin Alumbaugh, regarding the teams’ combined four straight second quarter touchdown drives.

Before halftime, senior Spartans defensive lineman Peli Pasa forced a Pirates fumble that was recovered by senior defensive back Trisshon Wright.

“It was kind of frustrating how that first half went — it wasn’t our best brand of football,” said Vargas. “We came out with a little bit more fire (in the second half).” Vargas finished as the only player having double-figure tackles, with 14, and made a late game sack that helped seal the victory.

 

As both offenses cooled in the second half, Pittsburg High controlled much of the third quarter with a sustained drive that finished with a field goal, cutting the score to 21-17.

“When your offense is on the sideline like that, it’s really hard,” said Alumbaugh. “It’s hard to get into a flow offensively when you don’t have the ball.”

Pittsburg moved the ball methodically all game and ended with more than double the offensive snaps of De La Salle, 77-37. It was their first matchup all season with over 30 pass attempts or more than 30 rushes.

Momentum seemed to be swinging the Pirates’ way on the next drive when Tofaeono forced a Spartans fumble that was recovered by junior Antjuan Holly in favorable field position — but a 33-yard field goal attempt banged off the top of the left upright to keep the score where it was. Tofaeono, who leads his team with 7.3 tackles per game, had a team-high two tackles for losses, while Antjuan Holly had a team-high six total tackles.

A fourth quarter De La Salle field goal made the score 24-17, where it stayed. As the Pirates turned the ball over on downs on fourth-and-one with about three minutes and no timeouts left, Spartans junior running back Duece Jones-Drew iced the game with a long first down run.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to win; we expect a lot out of ourselves… but we pulled it out,” said Jones-Drew, son of former NFL Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew. “Pittsburg’s always been a great team. We never underestimate them.”

 

While Pittsburg High has outscored opponents by more than double on average, De La Salle has scored over four times their counterparts — both averaging 39 points per contest. Each coming in on hot streaks, the Pirates won their previous four games 191-21; the Spartans, 197-36.

“Just being able to have that competition that we haven’t had since week one — before states — means a lot,” said Jones-Drew.

It was the lowest-scoring output and smallest margin of victory for De La Salle since their season opener in August, when they won 10-6 against the Lakeland (Fla.) Dreadnaughts, who are ranked No. 79 nationally. The 17 points allowed was their second-most this season and almost double their opponents’ average of nine. 

“It was a championship effort on both ends,” said Alumbaugh. “Neither team played clean, but both teams were playing really physical and really hard.”

The 24 points surrendered were more than the Pirates gave up in their last four games combined. The 17 points scored was a dozen fewer than their previous lowest total this season, but the most in 17 consecutive losses over 20 years against De La Salle.

After losing by multiple scores for 14 straight games, Pittsburg High’s last three defeats to the Spartans each came by only one possession — all in the NCS Open Division finals.

The loss ended Pittsburg High’s eight-game winning streak dating back to September, while De La Salle extended their undefeated stretch of 12 games that goes back to last December. The Spartans’ last defeat came in the Open Division state championship against Mater Dei (Santa Ana) High, the No. 1 team in the country.

With their highest state ranking since 2019, De La Salle awaits their opponent and looks for its first state championship win in six appearances since 2015. In 12 of the last 16 state finals, the Spartans have the most title game appearances (17), wins (7) and losses (10) since 2006.

“We know whoever we play next — they’re going to be really good,” said Jones-Drew.

The Pirates are 0-3 in state championship games since 2006, most recently losing last year in the Division I-AA state finals by two points to Lincoln (San Diego) High.

Pittsburgh High will look to take home their fifth straight NCS Division I title Friday at Diablo Valley College when they take on Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) High, ranked No. 33 in California.