High School

Good Knight for De La Salle in lopsided win over Cathedral Catholic : Live update recap

Senior quarterback Brayden Knight makes two big runs early, sets tone for an impressive win between two California top 10 teams from 500 miles away.

Mitch Stephens

De La Salle running back Duece Jones-Drew runs against Serra in 2024.
De La Salle running back Duece Jones-Drew runs against Serra in 2024. / Dennis Lee

De La Salle's fifth-ranked football team has a stable of running backs and they used most of them in Friday night's impressive 35-14 home win over Cathedral Catholic.

But the leading rusher and most impressive runner was senior quarterback Brayden Knight, who made a nifty 40-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and set up a second-quarter TD with an even niftier 61-yard run.

In a game pitting California Top 10 teams, the fifth-ranked Spartans from Northern California got two TD runs from Knight, two more by sophomore Jamal Johnson-Lucas in a wire-to-wire to improve to 6-0.

Cathedral Catholic, which played most of the game without Cal-bound QB Brady Palmer (collarbone injury in the second quarter), dropped to 5-1.

The Spartans top two rushers on the season, Duece Jones-Drew and Jaden Jefferson didn't get into the end zone and instead they relied on their backup backs, including Greg Jones, who scored the game's first touchdown on a 7-yard run to cap an 11-play 70-yard drive to start the game.

It was all downhill from there for the Spartans.

Cathedral Catholic, which suffered two more game-ending injuries over the third and fourth quarters, got rushing touchdowns from Honor Faalave and Willie Flores.

See all the game highlights below.

PREPGAME: The No. 10 Cathedral Catholic Dons (5-0) play the No. 5 De La Salle Spartans (5-0) on Friday at De La Salle's Owen Owens Stadium.

Cathedral Catholic is hoping there's no repetition to the results after losing to the Spartans in the only two meetings between the cross-sectional rivals separated by almost 500 miles. De La Salle won 49-21 at home in 2021, while pulling out a tough 28-20 decision in San Diego in 2022.

The teams have a common opponent in St. Francis (Mountain View), which De La Salle defeated 40-0 on Sept. 12 two weeks after Cathedral Catholic won, 35-7.

Remarkably, the visiting Dons average 177 yards per game both passing and rushing and have scored 10 TDs rushing and nine passing. Cal-bound QB Brady Palmer has completed 73% of his passes (62 of 85) for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Dons also have two rushers over 400 yards, Willy Flores and Honor Faalave, a five-star uncommitted junior.

High School Football, California
Cathedral Catholic QB Brady Palmer (10) hands the ball to Jonathan Solomon in 27-13 win over Mountain Pointe (Ariz.) in 2024. Palmer, now a senior, is committed to Cal. / Photo: Rudy Schmoke

De La Salle’s strength is its defense, led by LBs Bubba Vargas and Landon Miller, having allowed touchdowns in just one game all season. 

CALIFORNIA TOP 25 RANKINGS | Sept. 30

The game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. PT.

Players to Watch

Cathedral Catholic

  • Honor Fa'alave-Johnson, Jr., S - 5-star uncommitted
  • Chase Deniz, Sr., OT - 3-star committed to USC
  • Brady Palmer, Sr., QB - 3-star committed to Cal
  • Bronx Letuligasenoa, Sr., DL - 3-star committed to San Jose State
  • Josh Faraimo, Sr., LB - 3-star committed to Washington State

De La Salle

  • Nemyah Telona, Sr., DL - 3-star committed to Cal
  • Jaden Jefferson, Sr., ATH - 3-star committed to North Carolina
  • Landon Cook, Sr., TE - 3-star uncommitted
  • Jayden Nicholas, Sr., CB - 3-star committed to Montana
  • Duece Jones-Drew, Jr., RB - 3-star uncommitted

Pick 'Em

Play High School On SI's Pick 'Em and tell us who you think will win.

Cathedral Catholic vs De La Salle: Live score updates of top California high school football matchup - Oct. 3, 2025

Updates will be here when the game begins. Refresh for the latest update.

1ST QUARTER

(All highlights from NFHS Network courtesy of DeLaSalleTV)

WATCH: NFHS

TOUCHDOWN DE LA SALLE! Greg Jones 7-yard TD run after nice pitch from Brayden Knight. Completes 11-play, 70-yard opening drive, almost all on the ground. Jadsen Jefferson with 26-yard gain keys the drive. De La Salle 7, Cathedral Catholic 0. 6:59 1Q

SACK DE LA SALLE: One Cal recruit sacks another as Mya Telona takes down Brady Palmer, which keyes a 3-and-out on Cathedral Catholic's first possession.

TOUCHDOWN DE LA SALLE: Takes Spartans just six plays to go 59 yards, finished off with nifty 40-yard TD run by quarterback Brayden Knight. DLS coaches said all preseason that Knight is a much better runner than most think. Considering he's 6-foot-4 and angular, doesn't look like a runner. But he does on this run. XP misses. De La Salle 13, Cathedral Catholic 0. 3:20 1Q.

2ND QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN DE LA SALLE! Another brilliant run by Knight, a 61-yarder, sets up a 2-yard TD run by Jamal Johnson-Lucas. The coaching staff at Cathedral Catholic surely didn't see Knight being such a running threat. 2-point conversion pass good. De La Salle 21, Cathedral Catholic 0. 10:30 2Q.

PALMER HURT: Cal-bound QB Brady Palmer goes down after really nice 12-yard run, but falls on shoulder. He's out.

TOUCHDOWN CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC: The Dons from San Diego are not going away. They shake off Palmer injury and go 10 plays and 80 yards, capped by a 9-yard touchdown from Willie Flores. De La Salle 21, Cathedral Catholic 7. 4:14 2Q.

HALFTIME: De La Salle 21, Cathedral Catholic 7

HALFTIME STATS: According to DeLaSalleTV color commentary Damin Esper, Total yards: De La Salle 235, Cathedral Catholic 149. Rushing carries/yards: DLS — 28-235; CC — 18-57.

3RD QUARTER

PALMER OUT! Sophomore QB Ashmore is starting at QB to start second half. Fears are that Palmer has a collarbone injury.

BAD SNAPS: Consecutive snaps avoids Ashmore puts ball the CC 1. A short punt, gives De La Salle a very short field, at the CC 18.

TOUCHDOWN DE LA SALLE: Takes 3 plays to get back in the end zone, with QB Brayden Knight scoring his second TD on a 4-yard run. De La Salle 28, Cathedral Catholic 7. 8:02 3Q.

TOUCHDOWN CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC! Honor Faalave is really good. Goes 9-yard for a touchdown, completes 5-play, 59-yard drive. Dons close to within two touchdown. De La Salle 28, Cathedral Catholic 14. 3:03 3Q.

3-AND-OUT! Cathedral Catholic not going away. Defense stops De La Salle for second straight 3-and-out. We'll have a game if the Dons score on next possession.

4TH QUARTER

FAALAVE CRAMPS: The 5-star recruit goes down, then limps off field. He's key on both sides of the ball for Cathedral Catholic. 4th and 2 for CC will go for it on its own 34. Timeout CC.

VARGAS BIG STOP: On 4th down from his own 36, Faalave is hit for a 1-yard loss by star DLS LB Bubba Vargas. Huge play.

TOUCHDOWN DE LA SALLE! That should probably do it. Jamal Johnson-Lucas with 14-yard TD burst completes three-play drive. The Spartans have had at least two short fields to score TDs. De La Salle 35, Cathedral Catholic 14. 10: 06 4Q.

Another CC injury: Another key player for the Dons, junior defensive back Noah Lauifi is down and trainers on both sides are attending. Hope not serious. Shoot. A stretcher is on the field. Looks like a knee injury. Teams from both sides all taking a knee.

CLASSY END: As usual, De La Salle gets to the red zone, but takes a knee to not rub it in.

FINAL: De La Salle 35, Cathedral Catholic 14

FINAL STATS (From Damin Esper, unofficial)

Total yards: De La Salle 50 plays, 331 yards; Cathedral Catholic 43-217

Rushing: De La Salle 41-284; CC 34-114

First downs: De La Salle 18, CC 9

Individuals: Rushing — DLS: Knight 5-106, Jefferson 9-84; CC: Flores 14-71, Faalave 15-56; Passing — DLS: Knight 4-9-0-47; CC: Palmer 4-5-085.

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

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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