Folsom football head coach Paul Doherty is a fan of De La Salle’s program — as are most in Northern California. Even though the Spartans have handled his team with relative ease over the years, Doherty has an appreciation for the way De La Salle plays the game, going as far as calling it “the greatest sports thing going in the United States.”

On Friday night, it was Doherty’s Folsom squad that was the best thing going.

Folsom became the first Sac-Joaquin Section team to beat De La Salle since 1978, stunning the Spartans by a final score of 28-27 to win the Northern California 1-AA bowl title. It is the first time in 15 years that De La Salle will not play for a state championship.

Senior quarterback Tyler Tremain took matters into his own hands after De La Salle dominated Folsom during the regular season, accounting for all four of Folsom’s touchdowns — including a game-winning three-yard run with 2:12 remaining.

“He’s just a great quarterback and I told him that after the (first game),” De la Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh said of Tremain. “He has a ton of guts. A bunch of moxie. He just makes play after play with both his arm and legs.”

Tremain’s short rushing touchdown put Folsom up 28-21, but De La Salle drove right down the field on its ensuing drive and got into the endzone on a 42-yard pass from Luke Dermon to Michigan commit Zeke Berry. The Spartans opted to go for two and the win instead of the extra point, but Berry was stopped short of breaking the plane on a jet sweep attempt.

Folsom then ran out the final 1:44 and celebrated one of the biggest wins in program history.

Next up for Folsom is Southern California champion Cathedral Catholic, which defeated Orange Lutheran in wild fashion on Friday night.