Something for everyone

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You couldn’t tell it from the score -- a 44-7 victory for Crenshaw over Roosevelt -- but both teams took away something positive from their lopsided game Friday night.

The visiting Cougars (1-3) got a necessary breather in their nonleague schedule after tough, punishing losses to Merced, Norco and Dominguez. Crenshaw’s speed, strength and size were superior to that of the Rough Riders, and the game was never in doubt once the Cougars rolled to a 25-0 halftime lead.

But Crenshaw also needed to have some other things go right in order to make sure its confidence didn’t take a nosedive before Coliseum League play begins in two weeks. Coach Robert Garrett has had his hands full with toughening his players, both physically and mentally, through a challenging schedule and developing the necessary cohesiveness in his offensive and defensive lines.

‘People sometimes forget we’re a young team,’ he said. ‘We are improving, we are getting better. We saw improvement tonight. Overall, it was a good team effort, so we are getting better.’

Roosevelt (3-1), which begins Eastern League play next week against Bell, was not necessarily misled by its quick start this season. But coaches didn’t want their players lulled into feeling an inflated sense of self because of victories over Contreras, Wilson and Grant.

They got their wish. Roosevelt was dominated at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and saw speed like they’d never seen before -- ‘And if we’re lucky, we won’t see it again,’ remarked one of the assistant coaches as the team left the field.

Nonetheless, the Rough Riders didn’t lose anybody to injury and they avoided being shutout when quarterback Jesse Diaz scored on a sneak with 6:22 left to play.

Like I said, something for everyone.

- Mike Terry