CONCORD, CA (Sept. 2, 2024) — It’s only the second week of the season, but when De La Salle hosts rival Serra-San Mateo this Friday, the No. 1 seed in Northern California high school football will be on the line in Concord. The winner will take a big step toward securing postseason berths.

Both parochial schools won their season openers last Friday. DLS defeated Grant of Sacramento 42-14, with Serra coming back in the final minutes of the fourth quarter with nine straight points separated by a successful onside kick. The team won 22-21 at Folsom, previously ranked first in NorCal.

Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Owen Owens Field will pit two teams that have represented Northern California in the past 14 CIF State Open Division Bowl Games. Perennial powerhouse De La Salle was Northern California’s Open Division team from 2009-19, before the Covid-shortened 2020 season was held without a playoff.

Since bowl games returned in 2021, Serra has appeared in the State Open Division Championship Game the past three years, getting outscored 144-7 by SoCal’s Big 2 of Mater Dei and Saint John Bosco. This follows those two national powerhouses defeating DLS in the previous four Open title games.

Serra is coached by De La Salle alumnus and Hall of Famer Patrick Walsh. Due to the close relationship between the two schools and coaching staffs, they typically haven’t scheduled each other, but that changed in 2022 and the Padres have defeated the Concord school the past two years, including last year’s 28-0 shutout of San Mateo.

Folsom and Serra are the only Northern California teams to win back-to-back games against De La Salle since the 1980s.

Check out this week’s update on local high school football scores.

Jay Bedecarré

Jay Bedecarré is a longtime resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his career as a newspaper writer as a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also runs Bay Area Festivals, presenting events in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.