De La Salle (Concord, California) has accomplished a lot through the years, including the nation’s longest all-time win streak. However, on Tuesday, the Spartans, who won 151-straight high school football games between 1992 and 2004, will try to do something they’ve never done…win a game in London.
DLS, ranked No. 36 in the High School Football America 300 national rankings, powered by NFL Play Football, will play NFL Academy at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London. They’ll be playing in the same stadium as the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets played in on Sunday.
The Northern California school arrived in Great Britain Friday afternoon. Aside from sightseeing, the team attended Sunday’s NFL matchup. KTVU-TV in San Francisco reports 91-people, including 54 players, are on the trip to London.
While most high school football fans are familiar with De La Salle, many will be learning about the NFL Academy, a United Kingdom-based initiative created by the National Football League. Opened in 2019, the NFL Academy is defined by the NFL as “a major global initiative offering talented student-athletes the opportunity to combine full-time education alongside intensive training in American football under the guidance of a world-class coaching staff.”
This will be the third American high school football team that NFL Academy has played this year. The international team opened with a 54-45 loss to Edgewater from Florida, currently ranked No. 183 in our national rankings. It then dropped a 35-20 decision to reigning Ohio Division II champ Massillon Washington, ranked No. 28 in the country.
NFL Academy’s YouTube channel states that the broadcast will begin around 12:30 PM Eastern Time with the kickoff taking place around 1 o’clock.