City Section

Saturday, Nov. 15

Football playoff pairings

First round, Thursday; all games 7 p.m. unless noted

City Championship Division

#16 Gardena (Marine 4, 7-3) at #1 Venice (Western 1, 10-0); #9 San Pedro (Marine 2, 8-2) at #8 Crenshaw (Coliseum 2, 8-2), 2:15 p.m.; #12 Jefferson (Coliseum 3, 4-6) at #5 Sylmar (Valley Mission 1, 7-2-1);#13 Narbonne (Marine 3, 5-5) at #4 Birmingham (West Valley 1, 7-3); #14 Taft (West Valley T3, 5-5) at #3 Carson (Marine 1, 7-3); #11 Fairfax (Western 2, 5-4-1) at #6 Grant (Sunset Six 1, 7-3), 2 p.m.; #10 Granada Hills (West Valley 2, 8-2) at #7 Bell (Eastern T1, 6-3-1); #15 Westchester (Western 3, 4-6) at #2 Dorsey (Coliseum 1, 10-0).

Invitational division

#16 Cleveland (West Valley T5, 5-5) at #1 Fremont (Coliseum 4, 6-3-1), time TBA; #9 Wilmington Banning (Marine 5, 4-6) at #8 Roosevelt (Eastern T3, 6-4); #12 South Gate (Eastern T3, 6-4) at #5 Monroe (Valley Mission 2, 6-4); #13 Palisades (Western 5, 4-6) at #4 El Camino Real (West Valley T3, 6-4); #14 Locke (Coliseum 5, 2-8) at #3 North Hollywood (Sunset Six T2, 5-4-1); #11 L.A. Wilson (Northern 3, 6-3) at #6 L.A. University (Western 4, 6-3-1), 2 p.m.; #10 Verdugo Hills (Sunset Six T2, 5-5) at #7 Franklin (Northern T1, 6-4); #15 Canoga Park (Sunset Six T4, 6-4) at #2 Los Angeles (Northern T1, 8-2), time TBA.

Note: Quarterfinals, November 26; semifinals, December 5; championships,December 12 at L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

Venice earned the No. 1 overall seed in the City Section Championship division football playoffs for the first time but it also came with one of the toughest roads to the championship game as pairings were announced Saturday.

The Gondoliers (10-0) completed an undefeated regular season for the first time in five years. They will host Gardena (7-3), the fourth-place team in the Marine League, in the first round Thursday night.

If Venice gets past the Panthers, it will face either San Pedro or Los Angeles Crenshaw in the quarterfinals. Both teams finished with 8-2 records and were in second place in their respective leagues.

“We’re honored to be the No. 1 seed,” Venice Coach Angelo Gasca said. “All that means is you have to go out and prove it. To win championships, you have to beat the best teams.”

Coliseum League champion L.A. Dorsey (10-0) was seeded second following a strong comeback season. Carson (7-3), the Marine League champ, was seeded third and Lake Balboa Birmingham (7-3), the West Valley League titlist, is fourth.

“I thought we had an argument for No. 1 but it would have been hard to overtake Venice,” Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said. “They didn’t do anything to stumble and they were ranked ahead of us [by publications] most of the year.”

The first-round pairings took on a different format as league champions were to be seeded one through eight unless the seventh and eighth-ranked leagues opted to play in the Invitational division. Northern League champion Los Angeles (8-2) did just that and was seeded second in the Invitational.

“We’re not the same team that we were earlier in the year,” Los Angeles Coach Hardy Williams said. “We’ve lost four starters to grades. We want to give our kids the best chance of winning.”

Because of the new format, Sylmar (7-2-1), Van Nuys Grant (7-3) and L.A. Bell (6-3-1) earned first-round home games by winning their leagues.

L.A. Fremont (6-3-1) was seeded first in the Invitational while North Hollywood (6-4) and Woodland Hills El Camino Real (6-4) were seeded third and fourth respectively.
--Eric Stephens

Friday, Nov. 14

COLISEUM LEAGUE

Crenshaw 30, Jefferson 6
Aaron Huntley rushed for 95 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown, in 15 carries to lead visiting Crenshaw (8-2, 4-1 in league) to victory in a game that decided second place in the Coliseum League. Cougar quarterback Anthony Moore completed only two of eight passes for 16 yards, but he carried the ball five times for 29 yards, including a six-yard touchdown. Darby Adway gained 25 yards, including a one-yard touchdown run, in 10 carries for Crenshaw. On defense, linebacker Reggie Carter had six solo tackles, two assisted tackles and caused two fumbles. Huntley added five solo tackles and Brandon Sampay had four solo tackles, caused a fumble and recovered a fumble. Crenshaw led at halftime, 16-6, and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Jefferson finishes the regular season at 4-6, 3-2, good for third place in league.

Dorsey 46, Locke 0
Stephon Johnson ran for three touchdowns and Jeremiah Johnson ran for two for the Dons (10-0, 5-0), ranked No. 12 by The Times. The Don defense held Locke (2-8, 1-4) to 70 net yards. Dorsey is expected to be among the top two seeds when City playoff pairings are determined Saturday.

EASTERN LEAGUE

Bell 24, Garfield 0
Brian Delgadillo of Bell (6-3-1, 4-1) gained 108 yards in eight carries and teammate Oscar Gonzalez completed 13 of 18 passes for 142 yards at Garfield (1-4 in league).

L.A. Jordan 3, Roosevelt 0
Sergio Ochoa kicked a 35 yard field goal in the first quarter that proved to be the game winner for visiting Jordan (7-3, 4-1). Roosevelt is 6-4, 3-2.

South Gate 21, Huntington Park 6
Daniel Saucedo had eight carries for 107 yards including a 55-yard touchdown for Huntington Park.

MARINE LEAGUE

Banning 32, Washington 6
Tristan Taylor had 19 tackles for visiting Washington (2-8, 0-5). Banning is 4-6, 1-4.

Carson 27, Narbonne 3
Carson had earned a share of the Marine League title last week but there was plenty to play for in Friday night’s season finale against Harbor City Narbonne. An outright league championship and a high seed in the City Section Championship division playoffs was on the line.

Robert Miller quickly took the steam out of a capacity crowd at Narbonne with an 80-yard touchdown run on the Colts’ first play from scrimmage and Dwayne Sanders scored three different ways in a dominating 27-3 victory.

Carson (7-3, 5-0) won its fifth consecutive league championship and denied Narbonne a chance to share the title.

“Our goal was outright Marine League champs,” Colt lineman Norris Malele said. “We didn’t want to share with anybody. Now that we got this first goal, our next goal is the Coliseum.”

In the second night game ever played at Narbonne, the Gauchos (5-5, 3-2) got a big kickoff return from Lamont Long but didn’t cash it in as Oscar De Alba hooked wide a 37-yard field goal try.

Carson got the ball on the 20 and Miller ripped off a stunning run through the middle of the Narbonne defense.

“We were trying to get a fourth or fifth seed instead of a 12th or 13th seed,” said Miller, who had 125 yards on 14 carries. “That run busted their balloon. They were real cocky before the game.”

It was a story of futility for Narbonne all night. The Gauchos got into Carson territory in seven of 10 possessions but could only manage a 27-yard field goal by De Alba while committing three turnovers.

Long ran for 114 yards and Pat Smith added 100 yards to no avail.

“We couldn’t sustain anything,” Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas said. “We moved the ball well. You have to give their defense credit for coming up big inside the 10 and 15-yard line.”

Sanders scored on a 17-yard run in the second quarter and returned the second-half kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and a 20-3 lead. He added a 17-yard scoring reception from Bo Napoleon in the third.
--Eric Stephens

San Pedro 22, Gardena 0

NORTHERN LEAGUE

Eagle Rock 21, Lincoln 0
Jerry Camacho of Eagle Rock (4-6, 3-3) had a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Brown in the first quarter at Lincoln (2-8, 1-5). On defense for Eagle Rock, Ryan Paul had 12 solo tackles and one interception.

Belmont 24, L.A. Marshall 21
Franklin 33, L.A. Wilson 20

SUNSET SIX LEAGUE

Grant 50, Hollywood 6
Sun Valley Poly 21, North Hollywood 14
Verdugo Hills 27, Canoga Park 7

VALLEY MISSION LEAGUE

Granada Hills Kennedy 35, Van Nuys 0
Monroe 21, San Fernando 12
Sylmar 33, Reseda 18

WEST VALLEY LEAGUE

Birmingham 56, Cleveland 7
Chatsworth 24, Taft 0
Granada Hills 27, El Camino Real 20

WESTERN LEAGUE

Fairfax 14, L.A. University 13
David Palacios knocked down a potential game-winning two-point coversion pass with two minutes left to preserve the victory for Fairfax (5-4-1, 4-1), which finished second in the Western League. Palacios also had a pair of interceptions for the Lions. University finished 6-3-1, 2-3 in league.

Palisades 48, L.A. Hamilton 21
Dylan Cohen completed 10 of 14 passes for 193 yards and Brandon Bryant caught eight passes for 170 yards and one touchdown for host Palisades (4-6, 1-4). Anthony Anaebere rushed for 139 yards in 14 carries and Anton Chatton added 100 yards and three touchdowns in 11 carries for Palisades.

Ryan McNeil completed 14 of 19 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns and three interecptions. Jamil Mingo caught eight passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns for Hamilton (1-9, 0-5).
--Steve Galluzzo

Venice 46, Westchester 14
Running back Byron Ellis had nine carries for 113 yards and three touchdowns and also caught an 11-yard touchdown pass to lead host Venice (10-0, 5-0). Linebacker Jimmy Miller had 14 tackles including two for losses for Venice.