Cal Coaches Eager to Watch Alma Mater De La Salle at Memorial Stadium

The powerhouse Northern California team faces elite Southern Cal program Centennial-Corona as part of a Saturday prep twin bill

Cal defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal plays Clemson on tonight at Memorial Stadium, but at least two of the Bears' coaches will be back in the facility less than 24 hours later to take in a high-level high school matchup. 

De La Salle and Centennial-Corona — two of the elite programs in the state — will duel in a 2 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium.

Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi and defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings, both De La Salle alums, wouldn’t miss it.

“Do you think that I’ll look at it?” Lupoi joked.

“It’s on my calendar for sure,” Hutchings confirmed.

The game is part of a high school doubleheader on the Bears’ home field Saturday. Marin Catholic, alma mater of former Cal great Jared Goff, faces St. Mary’s of Stockton in an 11 a.m. kickoff. By the time the De La Salle-Centennial game is complete, Memorial Stadium will have hosted three games in a span of about 22 hours.

The main event Saturday features teams that have collided five times, most recently in 2015, when De La Salle posted a 28-21 victory in the state open-division championship game.

The teams met with the same thing on the line in 2012, with the Spartans won 48-28 to close out a 15-0 state championship season and wrap up the peerless career of coach Bob Ladouceur.

Hutchings, who played collegiately at USC, was a senior linebacker on that team and contributed a fumble recovery to the Spartans’ efforts.

“It’s a while ago,” Hutchings said. “It was fun to to be a part of coach Ladoceur’s last team.”

Ladouceur retired after the season with a 34-year record of 399-25-5, with 20 undefeated seasons, 28 North Coast Section crowns and five state titles. His teams famously assembled a 151-game win streak from 1992 through 2004. 

De La Salle is 4-0 this season and ranked No. 6 in the state, No. 25 nationally by MaxPreps. Centennial, at No. 5 in the state and No. 20 nationally, is 2-2, but the losses were to the past two open division state champs — 21-20 to Santa Margarita and 10-9 to Mater Dei.

Fans can watch a streaming broadcast of Saturday’s game on the NFHS Network.

This will be the fourth time De La Salle has played at Memorial Stadium, dating back to a 28-7 triumph over Long Beach Poly in a 2002 showdown between the nation’s two top-ranked teams.

DLS also beat Amador Valley High 41-0 in the 2004 NCS title game and topped Jesuit 63-0 in a 2014 game broadcast on ESPN.

Lupoi, who never lost a game while playing for Ladouceur at De La Salle, is excited to have both his old school and Centennial at Cal.

“That was very intentional to get those two teams here. We want to support the Bay in any which way possible,” he said. “Fired up that those teams are coming.”

Centennial alum JD McKinley is a freshman linebacker for Cal, and the Bears have a commitment from Centennial senior defensive lineman Miles Schirmer. 

“They always have great talent,” Hutchings said of Centennial. “Supporting both sides and obviously hoping De La Salle comes out with a one-point victory.”

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