MaxPreps 2012 Preseason Xcellent 25 Football preview: No. 8 De La Salle

Toughest game: Bellarmine (San Jose) on Aug. 31. OK, most people would say Week 2 against Colorado power Mullen, but if there has been an Achilles heel with the De La Salle program it is getting off to slow starts. If you're going to get the Spartans, it's Week 1 or 2. Bellarmine easily could have been in the national title race last year had it beaten De La Salle (lost 26-23 in overtime) and Santa Margarita (lost 42-37 in State Division I bowl game). The Bells lost a lot to graduation, primarily do-everything quarterback Travis McHugh, but the Bells have 20 of 47 players returning including superb athlete and quarterback Kenneth Olugbode. Bellarine has great system, coaching continuity and talent stream.

Question mark: Already clearly stated. Who will be taking snaps. Williams, the younger brother of Anthony Williams and former NFL receiver Demetrius Williams, is thick (5-11, 195) and has a huge arm. Metcalf (5-9, 180) is more in the mold of previous De La Salle veer quarterbacks. Both played JV last season. The team's offensive line – other than tight end – doesn't return any full-time starters but has numerous guys who saw action. Sumner Houston (6-4, 240), brother of Bart Houston, has been particularly impressive.

Local look: Nobody in Northern California has defeated De La Salle since 1991 – that's not a misprint – 1991! The East Bay Athletic League is filled with superb coaching and scattered with Division I talent. Monte Vista, California, San Ramon Valley and Foothill are perennially Top 20 teams in the San Francisco Bay Area and often among the state's Top 25. But after three decades of domination, there's a mental block with these schools. No school believes they can do it. And without a little swagger and a lot of confidence, it's hard to hang with the Spartans.

Overall outlook: Enos had it right. This likely will be old-school De La Salle. Houston was a tall, big-armed, non-traditional veer quarterback. But he was remarkably bright for the Spartans and learned how to be successful – De La Salle was 38-1 with him under center. Williams or Metcalf, both super athletes, will be handing the ball often to Vitale, Dasmond Tautalatasi and a host of others. De La Salle's defense should provide plenty of three-and-outs to provide plenty of repetition for the offense. A new regional playoff system will provide De La Salle a big and new obstacle likely in the Sacramento region – Grant perhaps? - so the road to a State Bowl game will be at least interesting.

Coach quote: "There's no doubt the strength of our team is around our linebackers, defense and running game. We do have a question mark at quarterback but we can't start much slower than we did last year at that spot. (Williams and Metcalf) have good potential. The whole group does. If the offense comes together with the new quarterback, this could be a very good team."