Now that they’ve made history of their own, the Crenshaw High School football team takes on a team that has made more history than anybody.

At 8 p.m. Saturday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, history lessons will be everywhere when the Cougars take on storied Concord De La Salle in the CIF State Championship Open Division bowl game.

Pairing the top teams in California, the Open game is the featured and final of the five bowl matchups over two days at the site.

Among the history-making achievements for Crenshaw was the program’s first 14-0 season and the initial City Section team to receive a bid to one of the CIF State Football Championship Bowl Games in the four years the event has been held.

Thanks to a convincing 34-14 victory over Narbonne in the City Division I title game Saturday at the Coliseum, the Cougars secured the third City title in school history. The others were in 1991 (3-A) and 2005 (City Division).

It also puts the nation’s seventh-ranked team (by USA Today) squarely against De La Salle, the fabled all-boys Catholic school from the north.

The Spartans, who have played in the bowl championships every year of their existence, are 12-2 and won their 18th consecutive and 25th overall Northern California section championship last weekend with a 49-14 rout of Pittsburg.

Their two losses, by the way, are to Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey, N.J., the nation’s top-ranked team in the latest USA Today poll, and Lakeland, Fla., No. 4 nationally in the ESPN Rise rankings until losing in the state semifinals last week.

Much of their notoriety comes from a national-record 151-game winning streak compiled from 1992-2003.

De La Salle coach Bob Ladoceur is the leader in career wins in California state high school history.

The fact the Cougars are making their own history is not lost on the players.

All-American linebacker Hayes Pullard, who scored on a 17-yard run against Narbonne, said, “It feels exciting because no other City team has played in a state bowl game.”

Speedy junior running back DeAnthony Thomas, who rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries in the City final, added, “This feels great because we had heard Crenshaw had never gone 14-0 before.”

The past aside, the present is about as attractive a matchup as the bowl committee could create.

Playmakers abound for Crenshaw, in particular Thomas, already a two-time qualifier for the state track meet, and Hall, the Coliseum League MVP who has six kick returns for touchdowns.

The Cougars coasted through the City playoffs, outscoring the opposition 166-26 and the reasons were due to the ability to hurt foes on offense, defense and special teams.

Junior quarterback Marquis Thompson has thrown for 1,824 yards and 19 TDs, but only had to put the ball in the air 13 times in the City final because the running game was working so well.

Geoffrey Norwood (1,001 yards, 15 TDs rushing) and Thomas (821 yards, 10 TDs) lead a running attack that also uses a number of other backs significantly. Norwood rushed for a team-best 112 yards on 21 carries in the City title game.

Hall is the receiving leader with 44 catches for 692 yards and eight TDs. He has 935 yards in kick returns. He had a 61-yard kickoff return against Narbonne that led to a Cougar TD.

Linebacker Ronald Stovall, the Coliseum League’s defensive MVP, Pullard and Norwood, who has eight interceptions, lead the Cougar defense. Nobody is a harder hitter in the secondary than Thomas.

De La Salle is primarily a running team with seniors Terron Ward (172 carries for 1,872 yards, 23 TDs) and Tyler Anderson (135 carries for 1,202 yards, 22 TDs) providing a potent one-two punch.

In last week’s North Coast Section title game, the Spartans built a 42-0 halftime lead enroute to the 49-14 final score. Ward rushed for 137 yards on seven carries and Anderson ran for 170 yards and four TDs on 13 attempts.

When the Spartans do throw, they turn to sophomore Bart Houston, who has completed 66 of 103 for 1,175 yards and 10 TDs. His favorite targets are wide receiver Lucas Shapiro (20 catches for 386 yards, five TDs) and tight end Bo Walter (18 for 317, three).

Defensively, linemen Dino Waldren (58 tackles, 8.0 sacks), Dylan Wynn (57 tackles, 8.5 sacks) and Will Marre (47 tackles, 14.0 sacks, two interceptions) lead the way for De La Salle.