Lessons learned: Mater Dei coach finally beats De La Salle
MISSION VIEJO — Mater Dei coach Raul Lara still remembers losing to De La Salle.
The then-Long Beach Poly coach lost to the Spartans at home 29-15 in 2001 in one of the most anticipated high school football matchups ever – a game so big that it was portrayed in the Hollywood movie “When the Game Stands Tall.”
Then, in 2002, Lara’s Long Beach Poly team fell once again to De La Salle, 28-7, at Cal’s Memorial Stadium.
But on Saturday night, vengeance wasn’t on Lara’s mind when he defeated De La Salle for the first time as a head coach, 37-15, to capture the CIF Open Division state crown at Saddleback College.
“It’s not revenge,” Lara said after Saturday’s win. “I have a tremendous amount of respect, especially for (former coach) Bob Ladouceur, for what he’s built there. Justin Alumbaugh is doing a great job bringing that tradition back. Actually, I think it’s always been there.
“It’s just remarkable. I know everything about them in a sense of the pride and what they do with their kids character-wise. So, it’s just kind of neat.”
Lara’s Mater Dei team came into Saturday’s championship game as a 41-point favorite, according to Calpreps.com’s computer breakdown. But De La Salle defied the projections to make it a competitive game.
After a sluggish start that saw De La Salle fall behind by 23 points at halftime, the Concord school came within 23-15 going into the fourth quarter before the Monarchs pulled away.
“All the credit goes to them,” Alumbaugh said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.”
Lara said he believes De La Salle’s camaraderie was what inspired its third-quarter comeback.
“I really harp on the brotherhood … and that’s why I have tremendous respect for De La Salle,” Lara said. “It’s all about character. It’s all about the brotherhood and stuff like that. I think that’s very important in sports.”
When addressing reporters after the game, Lara was gracious while speaking about De La Salle. When Lara found out De La Salle was going to be Mater Dei’s opponent, the longtime coach said he was up at night knowing the Spartans would be one of the Monarchs’ toughest tests of the season.
Despite playing the likes of St. John Bosco, Bishop Gorman and Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy, Mater Dei was taken off-guard by De La Salle’s offense.
“When they started running the veer, they had us a little rattled,” Lara said. “The kids stayed composed, and they got what they needed to get done, and we got the victory.”
Mater Dei finished its season a perfect 13-0 and Lara has a state champion in his first season as head coach.
The Monarchs have now won the CIF Open Division state championship in back-to-back seasons and captured their fifth state title in school history, all since 2017.