Football: Sylmar, Crenshaw respond after opening game stumbles

There’s a method to the madness of an overmatched City Section team playing a Southern Section power and getting routed.

It’s called learning from the mistakes and getting better.

That’s what Sylmar and Crenshaw did last week after opening-game stumbles to top 25 Southern Section teams.

After losing to Crespi, 42-0, in its opener, Sylmar’s offense got back into high gear in a 41-20 win over L.A. Roosevelt.

Quarterback Clarence Williams completed 15 of 19 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Danny Mendoza caught five passes for 64 yards. Marcus Gandy rushed for 123 yards in nine carries and scored two touchdowns.

That was the objective in playing Crespi _ to find out about the holes and fix them for City Section competition.

The same goes for Crenshaw, which was overwhelmed by Long Beach Poly, 54-14, in its opener.

But the Cougars came back to defeat South East, 49-0, last Friday. Sophomore quarterback Daiyan Henley does much better when he receives blocking from his line.

Crenshaw still faces a challenging two-game stretch against Bakersfield on Sept. 9 and St. John Bosco on Oct. 3. But that should get the Cougars ready for a Coliseum League showdown against Dorsey on Oct. 10.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer