De La Salle football: 2001 squad named greatest prep team of all-time by ESPN

31 Oct 1997: The De La Salle Spartans take to the field prior to their 55-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Pittsburgh High School in Pittsburgh, California. The victory gave the Spartans their 72nd consecutive victory, tying the national record set by Hudson (Michigan) from 1968-75.

by: Aaron Tolentino

Posted: Sep 2, 2023 / 05:25 PM PDT

Updated: Sep 3, 2023 / 12:06 PM PDT

(KRON) — The Bay Area has produced a number of prep football stars throughout the years. Think Tom Brady (Junipero Serra High School), Marshawn Lynch (Oakland Tech) and Davante Adams (Palo Alto High School).

As for teams, there isn’t much debate on who the dominant Bay Area high school football program is. De La Salle High School in Concord, at one point, won 151 straight games from 1992 to 2004.

In a list released last week, ESPN named its top 50 high school football teams of all time. The 2001 De La Salle High School was named No. 1 on the list by the network.

De La Salle went 12-0 that year. Its state championship win over Long Beach Poly (ranked No. 50 on ESPN’s list) marked the program’s 117 straight win — a streak that dates back to the early 1990s.

The 2001 Spartans had Maurice Jones-Drew, a running back who ended up starring at UCLA and becoming a second-round NFL draft pick in 2006 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“In the middle of the most untouchable winning streak in the history of high school sports, they put together their most untouchable team,” the ESPN article read. “The Spartans had to be No. 1 on this list.”

The 2003 De La Salle squad was ranked 15th on the list, finishing 13-0. The final game of that season was the 151st straight game the Spartans had won before finally losing a game in the 2004 season open against Bellevue (WA), according to MaxPreps.

Three other California schools made the list: