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Sports

Football: San Ramon Valley Hangs With De La Salle Before Falling 28-0

The Wolves trailed 7-0 at the half, but let game slip away in fourth quarter.

De La Salle 28, San Ramon Valley 0

The Star: San Ramon Valley's defense held the Spartans to just 260 yards of total offense, including 63 yards passing.

The Turning Point: De La Salle's Lucas Dunne found the end zone with 7:04 left in the third quarter on a sweep around the end to give the Spartans a 14-0 lead

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The Quote: "To hold De La Salle to one touchdown in the first half, that is just unheard of," Wolves quarterback Zach Kline said of his team's defensive effort.

What's next? San Ramon Valley will travel to Livermore next week, while De La Salle heads to Granada in EBAL play.

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Bottom Line: The De La Salle athleticism and speed was just too much for San Ramon Valley to keep up with in the end.

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Ask any coach in the business what wins championships, and you'll get the same answer from almost every one: defense.

The San Ramon Valley High football team didn't win a championship on Friday night, it didn't even the game, but it sure put in a championship-type defensive effort against De La Salle, the nation's fifth-ranked team, before falling 28-0 in front of a full house in Danville.

After stripping De La Salle's Lucas Dunne of the ball on the Spartans third play from scrimmage, San Ramon Valley marched downfield to find themselves in a fourth-and-goal situation from the two-yard line. After sending his kicking team on the field, San Ramon coach Mark Kessler called timeout and decided to give his offense another play to put the Wolves up early.

The call backfired as the Spartan defense held true, stopping the Wolves and keeping San Ramon Valley off the scoreboard.

"I take the blame for that call," Kessler said. "Credit De La Salle right there. They have an excellent defense."

The Wolves would go into the half trailing 7-0.

"At halftime, our lockerroom was so fired up. We knew we had a chance to play with them the whole game," Kline said. "To hold De La Salle to one touchdown in the first half, that is just unheard of. We played a great game tonight."

With ten minutes, 19 seconds left in the second quarter, De La Salle drew first blood, finding the end zone on a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Bart Houston.

The game might've gotten out of hand early if it weren't for the hands of San Ramon Valley safety Kaulin Blair. Blair saved a touchdown in the first quarter after leaving his feet to bat away a deep pass from Houston to Lucas Shapiro at the goaline that would've been a sure touchdown.

Later, Blair came up with the game's only interception, picking off Houston at the San Ramon Valley 10-yard line to keep the game at 14-0.

"Tonight was a gritty effort," Kessler said. "We played two great halves of football. De La Salle is a phenomenal football team. We came out like gangbusters tonight."

De La Salle's Dunne rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries, the bulk of those yards on runs of 30 and 31 yards. He also found the end zone twice, on runs of 30 and 11 yards respectively.

The Spartans brand of football, which usually consists of a power rushing attack, explosive speed and the big play, wasn't lost on the Wolves' players coming into the game.

"We knew coming into this game how good they were," Kline said of the Spartans, "but we weren't going to be scared or intimidated. We are a very good football team. We played our hearts out tonight."

One thing is for sure. If San Ramon Valley can match tonight's will to win in its remaining games in 2010, good things are ahead for the Green and Gold.

"These last few games you are going to see a completely different SRV team," Kline said. "We are a brotherhood and we are never going to give up."

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De La Salle 28, San Ramon Valley 0

DLS        0  7  7  14— 28
SRV        0  0  0  0 — 0


Scoring summary
10:19, 2nd:  DLS - Houston 2 run (Lyon kick)

7:04 3rd: DLS - Dunne 30 run (Lyon kick)

11:45, 4th: DLS - Dunne 11 run (Lyon kick)

8:19, 4th: DLS - Williams 73 punt return (Lyon kick)

Rushing (car-yards): DLS- Dunne 20-138, Te'o 7-43, Houston 6-15, Cabrai 1-1, Parros 2-(-2). SRV- Reed 3-17, Summers 4-10, Gurule 6-10, Love 2-5, Egan 2-4, Weiss 4-3, Barbier 1-(-1), Kline 6-(-18).

Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): DLS- Houston 4-9-63-1. SRV- Kline 10-19-89-0, Love 3-3-18-0.

Receiving (rec-yards): DLS- Dunne 1-26, Byers 1-17, Shapiro 1-15, Hutchings 1-5. SRV- Eckel 3-25, Peterson 2-21, Egan 1-11, Miller 1-10, Harvey 2-7, Faber 1-7, Worstell 1-6.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)

De La Salle— 195-63-260

San Ramon Valley — 31-107-138

Fumbles/lost: DLS— 2/1; SRV — 0/0.

Records: De La Salle 7-0, San Ramon Valley 4-3

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East Bay Football Coverage

Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League

Alameda 44, Hercules 17 — Alameda / Hercules — By Pierre Bautista

El Cerrito 40, De Anza 0 — By Peter Fournier

Bay Football League

Berean Christian 21, Valley Christian 7 — Dublin / Walnut Creek — By Kyle Yamamoto

Bay Shore Athletic League 

St. Mary's 33, Piedmont 14 — Albany / Piedmont — By Richard Paolinelli

Encinal/Albany game postponed after officials don't show

Diablo Foothill Athletic League

Dougherty Valley 25, Acalanes 21 — Lamorinda / San Ramon — By Jim Mannion

Las Lomas 30, Dublin 3 — Dublin / Walnut Creek — By Adam Berke

Miramonte 34, Campolindo 7 — By Michael Ostler

Diablo Valley Athletic League

Northgate 38, Clayton Valley 34 — By Eric Gilmore

East Bay Athletic League

California 35, Granada 14 — By Kyle Bonagura

De La Salle 28, San Ramon Valley 0 — By Trevor Murphy

Foothill 34, Livermore 7 — By Steve Waterhouse

Monte Vista 56, Amador Valley 28 — Danville / Pleasanton — By Bill Soliday

Hayward Area Athletic League

Arroyo 25, San Leandro 16 — By Matt Rempel

Bishop O'Dowd 62, San Lorenzo 7 — By Chris Nguon

Castro Valley 34, Mt. Eden 14 — By Joey Brownlee

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