For the third time in the past seven years, Cal High has seen its hopes of winning an NCS football title dashed thanks to De La Salle.

The top-seeded Spartans beat the Grizzlies 49-17 on a bitter cold Saturday night at Dublin High. It was the 22nd straight NCS title for De La Salle (13-0), which is ranked fourth in the state and 16th nationally by maxpreps.com.

The Spartans now face Folsom-Sacramento (14-0) in the CIF State Regional Open Division Bowl Game on Saturday at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Folsom is ranked third in the state and 11th in the nation by maxpreps.com.

Cal (11-3) fared better than it did in a 55-0 loss to De La Salle on Nov. 8. Unfortunately, the Spartans jumped out to a 28-3 halftime lead and stretched their lead to 42-10 heading into the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies got on the board thanks to a field goal by junior Spencer Thompson in the second quarter, while senior Blake Bierwith added a touchdown run in the third quarter. Senior Matt Lorenz passed for more than 200 yards in the game.

Cal’s previous appearances in the championship game ended in 49-21 and 37-0 losses in 2010 and 2007, respectively. Pittsburg was the last team other than De La Salle to win the NCS title in 1991.

Cal celebrated its 31-17 semifinal win over second-seeded Pittsburg (10-3) on Nov. 30. Lorenz led the offense with two passing touchdowns to senior CJ Cornwell and junior Matt Snyder. Lorenz and Cornwell each added a rushing touchdown. The Grizzlies’ win comes as revenge to Pittsburg, who defeated Cal 35-33 in a preseason game on Sept. 6.