SAN JOSE, Calif. - De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) High School quarterback
Chris Williams' first varsity pitch was a bad one. As Bob Uecker would say, "it was a bit outside."
Actually it was rushed, ugly and no where close to intended target, senior running back
Tiapepe Vitale. The ball rolled around and eventually Bellarmine jumped on it at De La Salle's 20.
Pepe Vitale picked up where he left
off from last year, rushing for 180
yards and three touchdowns in 41-7
win over Bellarmine on Friday.
File photo by Dennis Lee
Williams, a thick 6-foot junior, got a face full from the coaching staff on the sideline. Not that he wasn't prepared for it. He's been around the program for almost a decade as two older brothers - including NFL receiver Demetrius Williams - starred for the Spartans.
"They yelled and screamed and finally told me to refocus," Williams said with a knowing grin. "I pretty much did."
Indeed he did, with a superb varsity debut. He threw for 109 yards on just three completions and accounting for three touchdowns in a thorough 41-7 win over the 2011 State Bowl finalist Friday at San Jose City College.
Combined Williams' poised play with 180-yard rushing and three touchdown from Vitale and a stout defensive effort and there was never any doubt in this one.
The Spartans,
No. 9 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, piled up 420 yards, almost all of those came before the first play of the third quarter - a 27-yard touchdown run by by Vitale that put this one away. In fact, that scores proved to be the last touchdown of the game.
The last 23 minutes of the game could have easily been mailed in.
De La Salle finished with 420 yards to just 163 for the Bellarmine, which couldn't find any room running (21 rushes, 48 yards). But that sort of figured. The Bells lost 19 senior starters off last year's 12-2 squad and De La Salle has at least four Division I players on defense, three at linebacker.
This one was a far cry from last season's 26-23 double-overtime barn-burner. Everything that game had, this one lacked.
Vitale took a handoff on De La Salle's second play, rambled 69 yards for a touchdowns and the Spartans were off and running in both teams' season openers.
By the time Vitale scored his third touchdown - a 27-yard run - on the first play of the second half, the final margin had been established and De La Salle inserted its reserves. The rest of the game pitting Northern California's top two ranked teams could have been mailed in.
If these were the top two teams in the region, De La Salle fans should start booking tickets for Carson - site of the State Bowl Championships. Then again, Bellarmine had to replace 19 starters from last year's state Bowl team.
"(Bellarmine) is in rebuilding mode so let's put it in perspective," De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur said. "They'll be OK, he's a very good coach. I was pleased how we performed. We have a lot to work out, but that had the look of Spartan football tonight."
Austin Hooper caught a 58-yard
TD pass from Chris Williams.
Photo by Tom Lemming
Williams showed off his strong left arm with a 39-yard toss to
Andrew Buckley that set up his own 1-yard TD sneak. He also fired a 58-yard scoring strike to
Austin Hooper before adding a 2-yard keeper for another score. Williams looked sharp and calm following a bad pitch that Bellarmine recovered on De La Salle's second possession.
De La Salle extended its unbeaten streak versus Northern California opponents to 224 games (222-0-2). Bellarmine had one shining moment, a 52-yard touchdown pass from K.J. Carta-Samuels to Jared Vallner in the second quarter. The Bells were held to 163 yards to 420 for De La Salle.
"It was a good first game, but we can do better and I can do better," Williams said. "Not bad for a start thought."
Ladouceur, whose record improved to 385-25-3, was impressed. Williams and the impressive play of a young offensive line pleased him the most.
"I thought (Williams) look sharp," Ladouceur said. "He managed the game well and threw a couple really nice passes. He didn't played scared."
He and the Spartans will need an equally good game next week when they host Colorado power Mullen.
"(Mullen) looks like a very good team so we'll need to keep improving," Ladouceur said. "We definitely haven't arrived by any means. But this was a good start."
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchMashMax.
