High School

Serra finishes what it starts, shuts out De La Salle with 28-0 'masterpiece'

Padres use 20-0 flurry in the fourth quarter, finished off appropriately with a 60-yard pick 6 from Jermaine Barrett to beat the Spartans for a second year in a row

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

SAN MATEO, Calif. — This time the Padres finished. 

A week after Serra walked away with a not-so-satisfying season-opening home win over Folsom, the Padres finished strong with a 28-0 victory over NorCal rival De La Salle Saturday at jammed packed Brady Family Stadium. 

A 20-point surge in the fourth quarter made this a lopsided score even though the hitting and action was largely even. 

A Jermaine Barrett 60-yard interception return for touchdown with 1:53 remaining put the finishing touches on Serra’s defensive masterpiece. The Padres improved to 2-0.

None of it is by accident, says Serra All-State safety Joseph Bey, a San Jose State commit. 

"We're so tight, you know," Bey said of the Padre defense. "We love each other and play for each other. And we're so fast. We get sideline-to-sideline with such ease. And we trust each other and we're very assignment sound."

The Padres held De La Salle to just 131 total yards. Photo: Dennis Lee

Last week Serra raced to a 21-0 lead and held on to win 21-14. Coach Patrick Walsh said the finish left a sour taste. 

Not the case on Saturday. 

The Padres’ defense was simply unmovable. Hard hitting. Unrelenting.  

They recorded the first shutout against a De La Salle team since 2005 — 7-0 to Clovis West to start the  season — and it was the worst shutout loss for the Spartans since 1979, a 32-0 defeat to Salesian. 

Serra 28, De La Salle 0: Game story
Serra 28, De La Salle 0: Game highlights
Serra 28, De La Salle 0: 2-minute drill, Joseph Bey
Serra 28, De La Salle 0: Photo gallery

The Spartans (0-2) managed just 131 yards (to 322 for Serra), barely 3.0 yards per carry, while completing 6 of 18 passes with two interceptions.     

De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh applauded his team's improved 'physicality" compared to a 35-14 opening loss to Orange Lutheran, but mostly chalked up the defeat to Serra's stellar defense. 

“You can’t win if you don’t score,” Alumbaugh said  “That's an outstanding Serra defense, they  hit and tackle.They’re in position. They know what they're doing. It's hard to get them out of position because they play confidently and they cover each other up well. If one guy is out of position, another guy shows up."

Walsh nods and gives all the credit to his defensive coordinator Steven Monsef. It helps to have nine returners on defense from last season's 13-1 team. 

"It's a confluence of energy," Walsh said. "With amazing defensive coaches, with amazing work ethic and ultimately an amazing collection of talent. Guys who love playing for one another. Who love playing for Serra. ... When coach (Monsef) and the defense is on the right page it's an absolutely masterpiece. And today it was a defensive masterpiece." 

Fleet De La Salle quarterback Toa Faavae found very little running lanes, finishing with 12 carries for 28 yards. Photo: Dennis Lee

All that said, the game could have turned had it not been for a determined recovery of a muffed punt by Jaden Lim. 

The muff at its own 5 trickled to the 1 where a number of De La Salle players dove. But Lim came out with it. 

That proved key because Serra senior quarterback Maealiuaki Smith immediately led them on a 16-play, 99-yard touchdown drive that essentially won the game. 

It was capped with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Smith to tight end Cole Harrison with 1:09 left in the half, which was fitting. The two connected four times on the drive, including a 35-yard hookup. The Padres also converted two fourth-down plays on the drive. 

Had De La Salle recovered the muff instead of Lim, who knows how the game plays out. De La Salle’s offense, at least now, plays considerably better with the lead, even though it has yet to be in from through two games, which seems impossible considering their rich history. 

A 2-point conversion run by Nano Latu made it 8-0  that’s how the half ended.

Smith finished 19 of 28 for 243 yards and Harrison had seven catches for 122 yards. 

“Of course, the signature of the game was the defense,” Walsh said. “But the signature of the game for the offense was that 99-yard drive. When things come together here on West 20th Ave., for me it’s almost like poetry. It’s just beautiful."

Maealiuaki Smith threw for 243 yards. Photo: Dennis Lee / Photo: Dennis Lee

Most of the half was played between the 20s but De La Salle did have two opportunities, missing field goals of 42 and 47 yards on the first and last possessions of the half. 

De La Salle preached physicality all week and delivered matching Serra in that department. But it didn’t translate on the scoreboard  

The Spartans had two more big opportunities in the third quarter but once again the Serra defense was up to the task. 

One of two interceptions by Jaden Jefferson and 30-yard drive put the ball to the Serra 10. Three plays netted seven yards and on 4th-and-goal, Bey broke up a pass from Toa Faavae in the end zone.

Right before the defensive gem, the Spartans called timeout and Bey gave his team a pep talk. 

"I told my guys 'we're built for this,' " Bey said. "I told them 'we practiced all summer for this and now we're here.' I asked them 'Who wants it more?' That's what it came down to. We wanted it more and we got the stop." 

A second turnover led to no points later in the quarter and Serra put it away following a 50-yard bomb from Smith to Braden Agosta to set up a 1-yard TD plunge by Jabari Mann to largely put the game away with 11:27 left in the game to go up 15-0.  

After Barrett's first interception, Thomas Gooch added a 28-yard field goal with 6:00 left, to make it 18-0. Another turnover led to another short field goal, making it 21-0. 

Then Barrett, a De La Salle transfer and first-year starter, added the finishing touches with a pick along the Serra sideline. A speedster, Barrett zipped down the sideline untouched for a 60-yard touchdown. 

"He stepped up for us big time," Bey said. "Two picks and a pick-6. I couldn't be more happy for him." 

The pregame looked much like a postgame as the two teams embraced and exchanged general pleasantries following a moving speech from Walsh, a former De La Salle great. 

The game was played in honor of Jennifer Fadelli, the mother of Serra player Andrew Fadelli, who died this week after a 16-year battle with cancer, and Wash's former teammate Peter "Buck" Shea, who passed away in the spring during a surfing accident. 

De La Salle vs Serra September 2, 2023 Photo-Dennis Lee10

After a moment of silence, the teams met near midfield, just moments before kickoff. 

After the game, Walsh noted that Shea left behind a wife and two children. Earlier this month, Walsh missed his first day ever of practice to join his former teammates in Oregon to spread Shea’s ashes. 

"Today we lived like Pete who sadly died," Walsh said. "We talked a lot this week about not living in fear and living life to its fullest. That's how my buddy Buck lived. ... It's been very hard for us as a Spartan community. Our group, that '92 team, is thick. It changed a generation of football and to lose one of those guys, it hurts. 

"But I know Buck. He was a world traveler, he was a surfer, a waterman. He wouldn't want us to be wallowing around in misery. Feeling sorry for him and we did not do that today. On either side." 

All photos below by Dennis Lee: 

Johnathan Guerrero took the opening kickoff 45 yards. Photo: Dennis Lee
Toa Faavae was pressured and hit hard all afternoon at Brady Family Stadium. 
Snapseed
Jaden Green (3)
Jaden Green (3)
Jaden Jefferson with one of his two interceptions. 

PREGAME NOTES

The Spartans will seek a measure of revenge after losing to the Padres 24-21 in Concord last season (see all the highlights above), breaking a 10-game winning streak for De La Salle over Serra. 

The Padres are coached by former De La Salle running back great Patrick Walsh, whose team in 1992 started the program's famed 151-game win streak. 

SCORES 8/31-9/2

Central Section schedule/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Central Coast Section schedule/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
North Coast Section schedule/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Northern Section schedules/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Oakland Section schedule/scores: Friday, Saturday
Sac-Joaquin Section schedule/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
San Francisco Section schedule/scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Serra played an impeccable first quarter during a 21-14 win last week against SJS’s top program Folsom, but took their proverbial foot off the gas which didn’t please Walsh too much. 

Related: Northern California roundup (8/31-9/2)

A fantastic defense, which sacked Folsom eight times last week, including three and a fumble recovery by Taniela Folau, will try to slow speedy quarterback Toa Faavae, who ran for 90 yards and a TD in last week's 35-14 loss to Southern California power Orange Lutheran. 

Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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