JJ's Most Memorable Moments: Mater Dei vs. De La Salle 1998

[@eltoroloco1936]

This was an important game in an historical perspective as De La Salle began the norm of traveling all over the country to FIND a team that could beat them. Today, multiple SoCal teams do it every year. Coincidently, this is also the first year in a long time that DLS is not competing for a CA state title.

[@vitoroma9082]

I was there too. DLS up 21-7 at halftime and looked electric the first half.

[@marcvslicinivscrassvs7536]

Until 1998, Mater Dei had not played De La Salle lol. Great video, btw.

[@VM805]

These were the games I remember being in high school. I was a sophomore that year in 98' and my school (Carpinteria) made it to the SS Div-11 title game vs St. Monica. We lost a close game but I still remember those Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly, Loyola teams from the big boys Div-1. De La Salle just rolled over everybody until they finally lost to a school in Washington in the mid-2000's. Then Canyon Country was able to beat them in the first state bowl game in 2006.

[@Rockyinlp]

They lost to Bellevue HS, from Bellevue WA, they were a defending state champ and just kept the ball on the ground. Punished them with the size of the offensive line.

[@augustinelark9638]

They lost that game to Washington, because most of the team was still grieving the tragic loss of their former teammate who was suppose to be headed to Oregon on a full scholarship.

[@tr3vision19]

Love it. Keep them coming FOX Sports West!!

[@brycetsawyer]

The high water mark for De La Salle football .. while MD rebounded to be nationally top 3 to this day...

[@marcvslicinivscrassvs7536]

Yep 97-03 DLS had major horses. DLS doesn't put as much emphasis into football success as MD and Bosco, however. After 03 the DLS admin changed the admissions process, which made it harder for students who weren't from local catholic schools to get in. With that there went the DJs Drews and Simons.

[@V_reo_ez]

I remember this game,

[@sherwinrasmusenmusicchannel]

I heard that the kicker for Mater Dei had to transfer schools and see a shrink

[@brycetsawyer]

Mater dei

[@sherwinrasmusenmusicchannel]

@@brycetsawyer Yep Mater Dei I wonder where did he transfer to? ingot auto corrected my bad

[@johnteill_]

I remember

[@jaya1000]

I was there.

[@fearthemunky1]

JJ makes it sound like a David vs Goliath matchup. That's revisionist history. I don't remember it that way at all. Living in Orange County at the time, I reading about this upcoming game in the papers and there was a lot of concern and fear about how Mater Dei would be able to fare against DLS. Everything I was hearing at the time portrayed DLS as the favorite, quite the opposite of how JJ's monologue portrayed things.

[@bjones2366]

Mmm, I think JJ's recollection is pretty accurate. Tennis was confident that DLS would win, but most writers gave MD the edge as they were skeptical of DLS's streak at that time because of the relatively poor quality of the vast majority of its opponents. This game did change a lot, though. In fact, one could argue it was one of the most important HS games of all time as it was one of the first to pit top teams from distant regions. Because of DLS's streak and MD's USA Today championships in '94 and '96, this one was under the microscope far more than any previous such games. This was a landmark game.

[@everykneeshallbow]

Dave Bruemmer wrong. Completely wrong. The talk for years was L.A. was far superior to anything DLS had ever played. That DLS was ducking Socal. That DLS would get whipped against L.A.s best. As evidence, DLS had to travel south to get the first game. Even though they were the one with the 78 game winning streak. Nobody, nobody anywhere, took DLS in this match up. Even after the game, MD coach said if they played 10 times, they'd each win 5. Of course DLS went on to win 4 out of 4. Maybe by the 3rd game, papers started wondering how MD would match up. Especially since DLS beat them 42-0 in the 2nd game. Thats got to be what you're remembering.

[@jaya1000]

De la salle had a future 10 year pro on their team

[@jaya1000]

@@everykneeshallbow not LA, all of socal. We have great teams in LA, orange county, San Diego, inland Empire, shit even Ventura County churns out the occasional gem

[@eltoroloco1936]

@@jaya1000 I remember him running over a CB and not lose stride.....I played it in slow motion because I didn't believe it.

[@daryelhuff9096]

#canes

[@matthewshane3365]

Who the fuck is JJ?

[@VM805]

Former USC WR and alum. He's also covered high school football in SoCal for years. Unfortunately he suffered a stroke a couple years ago but he survived. JJ is a true gem for SoCal high school football enthusiasts.

[@benji7804]

Sad to see the de la sale sucks ass now

[@unapologeticwhiteamerican]

This season will tell us a lot about DLS future