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De La Salle 41, Clovis North 0: Live updates recap of CIF State Northern California football championship

First meeting between the teams will decide California high school football state title berth next week at Saddleback College

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

CONCORD, CALIFORNIA — By every indication, Friday's 7:30 p.m. CIF Northern California Regional Division 1-AA championship game should be a fast one. 

Both host De La Salle and Clovis North love to run the ball and eat up the clock. If that trend continues, the battle between North Coast Section Open Division and Central Section Division I champs could take about two hours. 

We'll see. 

De La Salle (10-2), winners of 10 straight, is the established power with California-best seven state championships against upstart and impressive Clovis North (13-0), which last week kept its perfect season alive with a hard-fought 24-14 win over Central-Fresno. It was the Broncos' first Division 1 Central title in 10 years. 

These teams have never faced off. As far as De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh's impressions of Clovis North: 

“Their offensive line is big and physical and their three runners play their tails off,” Alumbaugh said. “Their entire team does really. They are exceptionally coached. They are really impressive.

“If we can’t win the line of scrimmage, we have no chance.”

That's no coachspeak. 

Follow our live updates below to keep tabs on this CIF Division 1-AA Northern California regional title game, which is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 1.

You can also watch this game live on the NFHS Network

(Refresh for the latest updates.)

FOURTH QUARTER UPDATES

FINAL: DE LA SALLE 41, CLOVIS NORTH 0

De La Salle will play Mission Viejo next week for the CIF State Division 1-AA football championship.

De La Salle leads 41-0 to start the fourth quarter.

THIRD QUARTER UPDATES

DE LA SALLE 41, CLOVIS NORTH 0: This ballgame is officially over. Jaden Jefferson catches a backward pass and takes off for an 81-yard touchdown run for the Spartans. 2:45 left in the third quarter.

De La Salle still leads 33-0 and it has started to rain.

HALFTIME: DE LA SALLE 33, CLOVIS NORTH 0

First half photos from Dennis Lee:

De La Salle vs. Clovis North 2023 CIF State Northern California Regional football championship / Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle vs. Clovis North 2023 CIF State Northern California Regional football championship / Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle vs. Clovis North 2023 CIF State Northern California Regional football championship / Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle vs. Clovis North 2023 CIF State Northern California Regional football championship / Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle vs. Clovis North 2023 CIF State Northern California Regional football championship / Photo by Dennis Lee

SECOND QUARTER UPDATES

DE LA SALLE 33, CLOVIS NORTH 0: Blanche finishes off 65-yard drive and dominating half with 1-yard TD run. Set up score with sterling 18-yard run to the 1. Halftime. 

DLS 27, CLOVIS NORTH 0. 4:30 2Q: Toa Faavae 1-yard TD. His second.Turnover sets up short field.

DLS 20, CLOVIS NORTH 0. 7:08 2Q: Faavae 8-yard TD pass to Cook. 

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FIRST QUARTER UPDATES

DE LA SALLE 13, CLOVIS NORTH 0: Derrick Blanche 2-yard run. 2:03 1Q. 70 yards, 8 plays.

DE LA SALLE 6, CLOVIS NORTH 0: Toa Faavaea finishes off 65-yard opening drive 8:47 1Q

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PREGAME READING

From Central Section correspondent Paul Meadors

Division 1-AA

Clovis North (13-0) at De La Salle (10-2)

When: Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30

Preview: Clovis North completed a perfect 13-0 regular season and captured their first D1 Central Section title in 10 years by beating league foe Central 24-14 behind McKay Madsen’s three TD runs. Now, they’ll travel to face storied De La Salle, who have won ten straight after dropping their first two games to Orange Lutheran and Serra. Both teams have similar styles - they won’t kill you with the pass but can destroy you with their precision run game. The Spartans boast three players with over 700 yards rushing in QB Toa Faavae and running backs Dominic Kelly and Derrick Blanche. The three have 31 of the 33 team rushing TDs. Conversely, the Broncos have rushed for 3,761 yards as a team with Jackson Cinfel (1,863, 17 TDs) and Madsen (985 yards, 18 TDs) leading the way. Madsen doubles as an excellent linebacker. Expect a quick game with limited possessions for each team. Both teams take extreme care of the football: Clovis North has zero interceptions on the season with two lost fumbles and De La Salle has thrown five INTs with only one lost fumble.

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Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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