The Season: De La Salle visited by D.J. WilliamsThe 11th segment of "The Season," an inside look at
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) football, features one of its most revered players in school history, and one of its most improved.
Recently retired NFL linebacker D.J. Williams, the most physically imposing high school player I've covered in 30 years, dropped by the De La Salle to promote a nonprofit program called Home Team Closet.
The program takes extra gear and clothes given to NFL players and gives them to needy high school kids. Williams puts bins in every NFL locker room.
On this day, Williams brought a shipment for both De La Salle and El Cerrito. He was the No. 1 recruit nationally as a senior at De La Salle in 2000.
"De La Salle took me in like family and made me comfortable and my goal is to help these teams out throughout the country," he said.
Blake Wardy, from little-used backup to two-way starter and All-Leaguer.
File photo by Dennis Lee
From the top and most notable part of De La Salle's program, director Taylor Lambert of Cal-Hi Sports looked at the program's most unsung but important group — the linemen.
Lambert captured some vital images of the program, watching head coach Jason Alumbaugh — the former line coach and former DLS linemen — barking at players during tedious drills.
He notes that DLS's line play, always a stable, derives from three basic routines: "The sled, one-on-ones and two-on-twos," Alumbaugh reveals. "Technically it's pretty simple but it's hard to master. We're basically technicians."
"The Season" zeroes in on
Blake Wardy, a true success story. The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder was a little-used backup lineman last year, and has become a two-way starter and unanimous all-league player in 2015.
"He's earned it," Alumbaugh said.
The Spartans, No. 11 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, have won nine straight and face California-San Ramon, the same team it beat 56-0 to close the regular season.
