De La Salle, as most know, will open the 2014 season on a stage befitting its status as a national high school football power.
The Spartans take on Jesuit-Carmichael in the second game of doubleheader at the new San Francisco 49ers Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Wilcox faces Manteca in the fist game.
The $1 billion home of the 49ers -- dubbed in some corners as the "Field of Jeans" will be the backdrop for the games on August 29.
De La Salle has not lost to a Northern California team since 1991, including victories over 14-0 Folsom teams in the past two NorCal Open championship games. Added intrigue is that Jesuit third-year coach Marlon Blanton is a 1991 De La Salle graduate who also coached with the Spartans.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," De La Salle athletic director Leo Lopoz said. "We had a chance to tour the stadium before it was complete. I can only imagine what it'll look like when it is complete."
The De La Salle vs. Jesuit game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
"The 49ers are very pleased to play a role in bringing the Friday Night Lights matchups to Levi's Stadium," said 49ers CEO Jed York in a statement. "High school football is a great tradition that deserves to be played on the game's biggest stage, and we look forward to sharing a special experience with these young men, their coaches, family and friends."
De La Salle has won the state championship five times in the past eight years and has a record of 413 wins, 26 losses, and 3 ties over the past 35 seasons. The program holds a national record of winning 151 games in a row from 1992 to 2004.
Jesuit has won 22 league championships in its 50 years of existence. The Marauders have won two CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championships (1995 & 2002), while qualifying for the playoffs in eight of the last 10 years.
High school football caps a busy first month at the stadium. The first sporting event at the facility is a Major League Soccer matchup between the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders FC on August 2. Meanwhile, the 49ers will host preseason games against the Denver Broncos on August 17 and San Diego Chargers on August 24.
LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION: A week before the DLS vs. Jesuit game, a major feature film about De La Salle football, “When the Game Stands Tall” starring Jim Caviezel, Michael Chiklis, Laura Dern, and Alexander Ludwig, is scheduled to open in theaters nationwide.
The film, which stars Caviezel as coach Bob Ladouceur, Dern as Bev Ladouceur, Chiklis as assistant coach Terry Eidson and Ludwig as running back Chris Ryan, is about the team's record-setting 151-game winning streak.
The film is an adaptation of the 2003 book of the same name by Neil Hayes. Bob Ladouceur retired as head coach in January 2013 after winning his last Open Division state championship in December 2012.
Ladouceur returned to coaching as a De La Salle assistant last season when the Spartans finished 14-1, losing in the CIF Open Division game to St. John Bosco of Bellflower.
The movie centers around the August 2004 shooting death of De La Salle linebacker Terrence Kelly, who was murdered the night before he was to leave on scholarship for the University of Oregon, and a heart attack Ladouceur suffered in January 2004.
The movie's trailer says, "It's not about sports, it's about ... growing up ... forgiveness ... commitment ... and brotherhood."
