The Concord De La Salle Spartans captured the CIF Open Division Championship with an impressive 48-28 victory over the Corona Centennial Huskies at Home Depot Center in Carson Saturday night.
The Spartans got off to a strong start after the Huskies punter mishandled a snap, giving De La Salle great field position. Star running back Tiapepe Vitale punched in a short touchdown run to give the Spartans a 7-0 advantage.
The night was just beginning for Vitale, who scored two more first half touchdowns, including a 46-yard burst, to extend the Spartan lead to 21-0.
De La Salle quarterback Chris Williams added a short touchdown run that pushed the lead to 28-0.
After digging themselves into a hole, the Huskies got their offense rolling and moved the ball down the field culminating in a short touchdown run from Austin Renken to cut the deficit to 28-7 at the half.
Centennial came out of the gates in the second half determined to make a game of it.
After forcing a De La Salle punt, Junior quarterback connected with senior receiver Chase Krivashei on a quick slant that Krivashei took 64 yards to the house to make it 28-14.
The Spartans were quick to respond. Williams linked up with senior receiver Austin Lonestar on a 38-yard touchdown strike to push the lead back up to 21.
The Huskies offense continued to move the ball and cut the lead to 35-21 on a fourth down touchdown catch from Webber to senior Ryan Pascarella.
De La Salle would not allow Centennial to narrow the gap any further. Junior running back Das Tautalatasi found the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Spartans a 42-21 advantage.
Webber went back to work, marching the Huskies down and connecting with junior touchdown maker Barry Ware on a short touchdown strike to cut the lead to 42-28.
But De La Salle proved too strong and capped off the night with Vitale's fourth touchdown of the game to seal the victory and deliver legendary coach Bob Ladouceur his fourth straight Open Division Championship.
It was a great game featuring two first-rate programs but in the end, costly Centennial turnovers proved too much to overcome.
