No. 17 De La Salle breaks it open in rout over Long Beach Poly

Video: The Season - De La Salle vs. San Ramon Valley

CONCORD, Calif. – It had been 13 years since two of the nation's most revered high school football programs, De La Salle (Concord) and Long Beach Poly, had tangled.

It took 6 minutes and 45 seconds for the Spartans to do some serious reminiscing.

That's how long it took De La Salle to travel 71 yards on 18 plays to start the third quarter and open the floodgates in a 52-6 home victory at Owen Owens Friday night.

"It was old-school De La Salle," head coach Justin Alumbaugh said. "Of the 18 plays, we ran the same formation 17 times. We put it on the line and they responded. It was beautiful."

It was old-school results as well. The Spartans (6-1) beat Poly, a program that has produced more NFL players than any other, for the third straight time.

The two nationally-recognized programs had epic battles in 2001 and 2002, also won by De La Salle, 29-15 and 28-7.

De La Salle, ranked 17th nationally by MaxPreps, blew the doors off this one after Anthony Sweeney capped the opening third-quarter drive with a 1-yard sneak.

The Spartans had six first downs on the drive, which chewed up 6 minutes, 45 seconds to put them up 30-6. They'd score three more touchdowns in the next six minutes — a 19-yard run by Antoine Custer (27 carries, 192 yards, two TDs), a 6-yard run by Andrew Hernandez and a 30-yard interception return from Tre White — to turn this into an absolute rout.

The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. Poly, which played without four-star quarterback Malik Henry (undisclosed injury), managed a mere 83 yards of offense and three first downs. The Jackrabbits ran only 11 plays in the second half.

"Our defense played great," said Custer, who played both ways as a starting defensive back. "We tackled great. We've come a long way since Texas."

The Spartans missed numerous tackles in a season-opening 26-21 loss in Texas to Trinity (Euless, Texas).

"I thought we played really hard tonight," Alumbaugh said. "I really liked our effort. When you play that hard, you can overlook some mistakes. And we had a lot early."

The sloppiness started from the get-go for the Spartans, losing fumbles on their first two possessions.

Poly (5-2) couldn't take advantage either time, and after a short punt, four-star tight end Devin Asiasi hauled in an 18-yard scoring toss from Sweeney, making it 7-0 with 2:28 left in the first.

A sensational 35-yard reception by Isaiah Randle set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Custer, making it 14-0 with 10:58 left in the second quarter.

Setting the tone for the sloppy first half, De La Salle committed its third turnover on an interception by middle linebacker Amanki Vaea at the DLS 15. But Poly, like it did all half, moved backward.

After a sack and penalty, the Jackrabbits were called for a hold in the end zone for a safety, giving De La Salle a 16-0 with 5:08 left in the half.

After the Spartans had their second touchdown of the half called back due to penalty, Sweeney connected on his second TD pass to Asiasi, this one a 19-yarder with 1:25 left in the half.

"I love Devin," Custer said. "He's a big guy who can catch, block and tackle. He's something else."

A two-point conversion failed and Poly's Aaron Shampklin returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Jackrabbits a glimmer of hope. They had 58 yards of offense and trailed 22-6 at halftime. De La Salle had 254 total yards through two quarters.

"This is a big rivalry and it had a big-game feel," Custer said. "We were really pumped up. This was a great win."