De La Salle, doomed by early woes, routed by Santa Margarita in state final
MISSION VIEJO — De La Salle still can’t solve Southern California.
The Spartans traveled to Mission Viejo for another state championship game and walked off the field in defeat once again as Santa Margarita and its USC-bound superstar, Trent Mosley, breezed to the Open Division title 47-13 on Saturday night at Saddleback College.
The loss was De La Salle’s eighth in a row in a state championship game, all but two at the Open level.
The opponent was different this time — no Mater Dei or St. John Bosco — but the result was painfully familiar for De La Salle.
Behind three touchdowns from Mosley, Santa Margarita (11-3) upended another perfect DLS season and continued the Southland’s unshakeable stranglehold on the Open state title.
No Northern California team has won an Open championship since De La Salle did so 10 years ago against Centennial-Corona.
Jaden Jefferson scored for the Spartans (12-1) in the first half, running in from the 4 to take advantage of a fumble recovery by Landon Miller midway through the second quarter. But Santa Margarita led 35-7 at halftime.
The North Carolina-bound Jefferson added another touchdown run — this one from 7 yards — in the third quarter to cut the margin to 35-13.
But it was too little, too late.
Mosley ran for a touchdown and caught two TD passes to lead Santa Margarita.
The exclamation point came when Siua Holani intercepted a pass and returned it down the sideline for a touchdown with 1:36 to go.
De La Salle arrived at Saddleback with an undefeated record and a resume that included wins over Florida powerhouse Lakeland, Serra and St. Francis of the West Catholic Athletic League, Sacramento heavyweight Grant and St. Mary’s-Stockton, which won the Division 2-AA state title on Friday night.
The Spartans reached the Open final by beating Pittsburg 24-17 in the North Coast Section Open Division title game on Nov. 21, the Concord powerhouse’s 33rd consecutive section crown.
But De La Salle wanted more.
They traveled to Orange County seeking their first state championship since 2015, when they beat Centennial-Corona 28-21. The state title 10 years ago was De La Salle’s seventh, still the most all-time.
But the Spartans had come away empty since then, losing Open state finals in 2016, ’17, ’18, ’19 and ’24. They also lost in the 1-AA state title game in ’22 and ’23.
The drought has become so extended that Folsom, which won the 1-AA state title on Friday, entered Saturday night trailing De La Salle in state championships by just one.
Santa Margarita brought its own storyline into the title game.
The SoCal team is now led by former NFL All-Pro Carson Palmer, an alumnus of the school who is in his first season. The Eagles’ offensive coordinator is Lenny Vandermade, the former St. Ignatius head coach who left the Wildcats in January to join Palmer, his college roommate at USC.
Santa Margarita’s appearance in the Open final marked the first time since Centennial in 2015 that Mater Dei or St. John Bosco did not represent the South in the top division.
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