Column: De La Salle’s defense is the difference in defeating Centennial for state title

It was tied at seven, tied at 14, tied at 21. The CIF state championship Open Division football bowl final between Corona Centennial and Concord De La Salle on Saturday night at Sacramento State was living up to expectations as big-boy football being played at the highest quality by the two best teams in California.

The big surprise was that in a season filled with potent passing attacks and high-scoring offenses that couldn’t be stopped, it was defense that won the game. De La Salle’s Nick Lopez came up with an interception early in the fourth quarter, and quarterback Anthony Sweeney followed with a 26-yard touchdown run to give the Spartans (13-1) a 28-21 victory over Centennial (14-1) and a second consecutive state title.

“Our defense played incredible,” De La Salle Coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “Our physicality was great.”

Centennial can blame defeat on dropped passes, penalties that forced the offense into tough situations and twice falling inches short of converting fourth-down situations.

“We just have to make plays when the opportunities arises. That’s the bottom line,” Centennial Coach Matt Logan said.

J.J. Taylor rushed for 169 yards in 29 carries for Centennial. Quarterback Anthony Catalano rushed for 103 yards, ran for a touchdown and passed for two scores. For De La Salle, Antoine Custer rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Sammonte Bonner caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Catalano at the outset of the third quarter following a fumble recovery to give Centennial a 14-7 lead.

De La Salle tied the score on Sweeney’s 48-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Harvey on a blown coverage midway through the third quarter.

A Javon McKinley 10-yard touchdown catch gave Centennial a 21-14 lead. Then Custer tied the score with a 63-yard run.

Throughout, De La Salle’s Boss Tagaloa, a 6-foot-2, 300-pound lineman, was making an impact on both sides of the ball. Centennial linebacker Desmond Williams was doing the same for his team on defense.

An offensive scoring circus was anticipated based on these two teams combining for 107 points in their championship game last season, which was won by De La Salle, 63-42, but the first half ended in a 7-7 tie. It was a clear sign of much improvement in the defenses.

Taylor rushed for 106 yards in 16 carries in the first half, but De La Salle stuffed him on fourth and one at the 14 with 4:10 left in the second quarter to deny the Huskies a scoring opportunity.

De La Salle started the game with an impressive 82-yard, 17-play scoring drive that took almost 7 1/2 minutes. Custer scored on a four-yard run.

Catalano evened the score in the second quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run, keeping the ball on an option play.

De La Salle improved to 4-1 in games against Centennial in the bowl series. Since the inception of state bowl games in 2006, the Spartans are 7-3 in championship games.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATSondheimer