Column: Coliseum League football teams are still going strong in playoffs
Los Angeles quarterback Kaymen Cureton throws a touchdown pass against Hawkins during a Coliseum League game on Nov. 6.
There’s a resurgence taking place among Coliseum League football teams. Four schools — Dorsey, Crenshaw, Los Angeles and Manual Arts — are still alive going into next week’s City Section semifinals.
“It’s awesome,” Los Angeles Coach Eric Scott said.
In Division I, Dorsey will play at Narbonne and Crenshaw will host Arleta on Friday night. In Division II, Los Angeles will host Jefferson. In Division III, Manual Arts will play at Hollywood.
The addition this season of Los Angeles and Hawkins to the league helped raise everyone’s competitive level. Even though both Dorsey and Crenshaw lost to Los Angeles in league play, each has benefited and started to reach peak form in the playoffs.
Crenshaw has opened up its passing game behind junior quarterback Daiyan Henley, who sparked a 54-19 quarterfinal victory over Garfield with five touchdown passes. Rayshawn Williams, a sophomore, had three interceptions, including one for a touchdown. He also caught two touchdown passes.
Dorsey has a rising junior quarterback in Jerman Gotoy, who completed six of 12 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-33 win over Sylmar. Freshman running back Charles Mincy Jr. has given a big lift to the Dons’ offense since being called up from junior varsity.
“We started playing well at the right time,” first-year Dorsey Coach Irvin Davis said.
Los Angeles, the Coliseum League champion, is rolling with an 11-0-1 mark. It won its Division II quarterfinal game, 80-0, over Huntington Park. Quarterback Kaymen Cureton completed nine of 11 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns.
Cross-country finals
At the Southern Section cross-country finals Saturday at Mount San Antonio College, Phillip Rocha of Arcadia had the day’s fastest time of 14:42.7 in winning the Division 1 individual title.
Temecula Great Oak won Division 1 boys’ and girls’ team titles. Freshman Chloe Arriaga of Walnut won the Division 1 girls’ race in 17:40.7.
At the City Section finals at Pierce College, Paul Luevano of Venice won his second consecutive individual title, winning the Division I boys’ race in 15:01.19. Sophomore Patricia Sanchez of Santee won the Division I girls’ race in 18:31.88.
Palisades won the Division I boys’ and girls’ team titles.
It was a big weekend for the Douglas family. Manuel Douglas, the football coach at Narbonne, won his semifinal game, 55-24, over San Pedro on Friday night. His wife, Jelerine, guided USC CAE to City Section Division III titles in boys’ and girls’ cross-country on Saturday.
Next weekend the state championships in cross-country will be held in Fresno.
Twitter: @LATSondheimer
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