Southland not No. 1, but dominates final state rankings

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Seven Southland football programs, two from San Diego and Concord De La Salle comprised the top 10 teams in CalHiSports.com’s final state rankings.

De La Salle, which won the State Division I bowl championship game with a 37-31 victory over Corona Centennial, was selected No. 1. Centennial (13-2) was No. 2, followed by Birmingham (13-1), Long Beach Poly (13-1) and Orange Lutheran (10-2).

The website wrote of DLS that ‘It may have been the best coaching job yet by Bob Ladouceur and his staff to implement new wrinkles in the offense, put the right people in the right places on defense, and keep the team firmly focused ... ‘

-- Image of De La Salle’s Travis Perio by David Sprague

Of Centennial, it wrote, ‘With Ryan Bass at running back, Matt Scott at quarterback and Marsel Posey and Ricky Marvray at receiver, no team in California was as potent as the Huskies.’

Rounding out the top 10 were Crespi (11-3), St. Bonaventure (14-1), Oceanside (12-1), Mater Dei (9-2) and Poway (12-0).

State-team-of-the-year honors went to DLS in Division I, Oceanside in Division II, Oakdale (12-1) in Division III, Novato (13-1) in Division IV, and St. Margaret’s (14-0) in Division V.

-- Martin Henderson