By Luke Finkel

OAKLAND — The Grizzlies knew they needed a near-perfect game against 18-time NCS champion De La Salle if they were to win their first NCS Division I title, the perfect ending to the best football season in Cal High history.

But the Grizzlies’ playoff run came to a disappointing finish, with their mistakes and turnovers helping the Spartans to a 49-21 victory in the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday.

“We came out hitting but they came out hitting harder,” said junior Armani Washington. “We played (hard) but it’s disappointing to not come out winning.”

The first quarter had showed the prospect of an evenly matched game, with both teams tied 7-7 going into the second quarter thanks to Cal’s defense which had forced two Spartan fumbles.

But the second quarter quickly proved to be a different story, as No. 1 seeded De La Salle outscored the No. 2 Grizzlies 21-0.

After driving down the field early in the second, Cal quarterback Drew Reil threw an interception that put the Spartans deep in the red zone. From there all it took was one play for running back Lucas Dunne to power in his first of three touchdowns.

Shortly after, Cal was forced to punt the ball back to the Spartan offense which drove down the field for a touchdown pass from quarterback Bart Houston.

It then took Cal only one minute to again turn over the ball on a fumble in its own half, allowing Dunne to walk in a three-yard score.

“We just turned the ball over, and you can’t do that against a good team like De La Salle,” said head coach Eric Billeci. “It all came down to the turnovers.”

Cal finished with one fumble and two interceptions, better than De La Salle’s four fumbles and one interception. But unlike the Spartans, the Grizzlies were not able to capitalize offensively.

Reil threw for two touchdowns and running back Kyle Alvarez ended with 100 yards and one touchdown, giving the Grizzles a respectable 21 points against a tough Spartan defense, but not enough for a win.

De La Salle handed the Grizzlies only its second loss of the season, having beaten Cal 31-17 on Nov. 12

In both games, Cal could not stop Spartan running back Lucas Dunne, who finished with over 140 yards in the championship game.

“We were in the right positions to tackle [Dunne], but we couldn’t bring him down,” said Cal head coach Eric Billeci.

Up until the final game, Cal had easily beaten its opponents.

Against Castro Valley in the first round, the Grizzlies won 47-0, with a dominating running game. By the end of the game some of the Grizzlies backups were playing like they were starters.

During the second and third rounds of NCS, the Grizzlies won back to back. Both wins, against Berkeley High School

and San Ramon Valley High School, resulted in scores that put the Grizzlies 21 points over their opponents.

Running back Kyle Alvarez led the Grizzly offense through the season, averaging 82 rushing yards per game. His performance on Saturday carried the team.

Quarterback Drew Reil also had a great season, averaging  153 passing yards per game.

Saturday’s loss brought  to an end a season unmatched in Cal history.

The team’s 12 wins and its top-10 state ranking are accomplishments that the De La Salle game could not change, Billeci said to the players after the game.

“It’s an absolutely phenomenal group of players, and just as phenomenal coaches,” said offensive coordinator Dave Kravitz. “You can’t say this wasn’t a great season by any stretch.”

Though the result was disappointing, Cal’s performance was superior to its outing against the Spartans in the 2007 NCS Championship game at the Coliseum, where the Grizzlies lost 37-0.

And both coaches and players expect the team’s success to continue growing in the future..

“I definitely expect to be here next season,” said Billeci. “That’s the first thing I told the juniors: we are coming back.”