Carson has little time to enjoy big win

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Most wins are nice. But wins against a longtime rival are special.

It’s too bad Carson did not get its dramatic 35-31 victory against Narbonne last season, either in the regular season or playoffs, rather than the first league game; the Colts would have more time to savor the flavor. But that is rarely possible in the Marine League, and definitely not this season.

‘This put us in the driver’s seat for, oh, about seven days,’ Carson Coach Michael Christensen said.

‘It was good to get into a physical mode of play. Because it’s going to be like this week in and week out.’

That is one thing that has always interested me about high impact leagues like the Marine. Does the weekly pounding among teams like Carson, Banning, San Pedro and Narbonne exact a price later in the playoffs against a team that might also be physically strong but had a less arduous path to take?

Christensen doesn’t think so. And if he did, he doesn’t have a choice, not if he wants to get out of the Marine League and into the playoffs.

‘The kids are in pretty good shape,’ Christensen said. ‘We had a tough off-season and a physical [nonleague] season. There will always be injuries you can’t prevent no matter who you play. We just have to be smart about our practices, and give the kids time to recover.’

- Mike Terry