De La Salle went on the road for the first time this season on Friday night, and the experience was nothing like three previous home games.
St. Mary’s-Stockton gave the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team all it could handle before the Spartans finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Quarterback Toa Faavae and running back Derrick Blanche, both seniors, each scored two touchdowns as De La Salle overcame a four-point deficit after three quarters to win 38-35.
When it was over, DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh told his players that they listened too much to the outside noise, which was extremely positive after three home blowouts.
“We told them all week. St. Mary’s is a great program,” Alumbaugh said. “They have a great coach, and they have great athletes.”
Faavae’s 10-yard keeper on the first snap of the fourth period gave the Spartans a 24-21 advantage and ignited a quarter in which the teams combined for five touchdowns.
After a blitz forced a St. Mary’s turnover, Blanche scored on the next play, reserving direction in the backfield before dashing 25 yards across the goal line to make it 31-21.
St. Mary’s wasn’t finished.
Ivan Huerta caught a 16-yard fade from Jaden Galvan to pull the home team to within 31-28 with 5:54 left.
Faavae answered with an 8-yard keeper to extend the margin to 38-28 with 2:51 to go.
Game over? Well, not quite.
With St. Mary’s facing a fourth-and-24 from its 1-yard line, the Rams converted a 25-yard completion to Kenneth Moore II. A few plays later, Moore was in the end zone, his 4-yard reception with 49.2 seconds to go cutting the deficit to 38-35.
“It was fourth-and-24 and we let them take a little quick slant and all our DBs were just chillin’,” Alumbaugh said.
De La Salle recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to improve to 4-0.
St. Mary’s, which lost to Reno’s Bishop Manogue to open the season, fell to 2-2.
Blanche carried 15 times for 113 yards and two TDs. Faavae ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries.
“I thought Toa and Blanche were great,” Alumbaugh said.
For a while, it looked as if this night might belong to St. Mary’s. A roughing-the-punter penalty kept a possession alive late in the second quarter. It led to a touchdown that cut De La Salle’s lead to 17-14.
The second half opened with a long St. Mary’s drive.
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The Rams fumbled near the goal line, but Ahmyri McGee-Hall recovered the miscue near the back of the end zone for a touchdown that gave St. Mary’s a 21-17 lead with 7:39 left in the third quarter.
After routing Grant-Sacramento, Serra and St. Francis to start the season, De La Salle found itself in a battle that went down to the final minute.
But in the end, the Spartans survived.