Football: Mission Hills hangs on for 21-20 opening win over Crenshaw

A win is a win, and San Marcos Mission Hills will gladly take its 21-20 victory over Crenshaw on Thursday night at Crenshaw in a season opener. But there were so many mistakes on both sides that the game could have been easily won by the Cougars.

Costing Crenshaw dearly was an inability to catch passes. At least seven passes were dropped by Crenshaw receivers. The fact quarterback Daiyan Henley kept battling and came so close to propelling his team to victory had to leave the Cougars with something postive to build upon.

Henley gave Crenshaw an 8-7 halftime lead when he passed three yards to Mark Martin for a touchdown at the end of the second quarter, then ran in the two-point conversion.

Quarterback Jack Tuttle put Mission Hills back on top, 14-8, with a 16-yard TD run at the outset of the third quarter after the Cougars failed on a fourth-down play when Henley slipped. Tuttle added an 11-yard TD pass for a 21-8 lead.

Crenshaw came back. Romeo Burnside scored on a two-yard TD run to start the fourth quarter and Manasseh Bennett came through with a blocked punt, setting up an 18-yard TD run by Henley with 6:28 left. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Crenshaw behind, 21-20.

Crenshaw got the ball back but a sack following another dropped Crenshaw pass pretty much clinched the victory for Mission Hills.

Henley rushed for 60 yards and passed for 91 yards on 10 of 26 attempts. Sam Dixon rushed for 155 yards in 29 carries and scored a touchdown on a screen pass for Mission Hills.

Both teams struggled with penalties and poor special teams. Mission Hills had two punts blocked. Crenshaw had a ball snapped over its punter’s head, leading to a Mission Hills touchdown. The Cougars never attempted a conversion kick, always going for two points.

Crenshaw must figure out what to do with its receiving corp. It appears that standout junior receiver Rayshawn Williams won’t be able to play this season because of a knee injury.

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