Trying to stay calm during the championship storm

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It’s not as if No. 13 University (9-4) has to beat BIrmingham or Carson -- or try and stare down a two-time champion like Eagle Rock -- at the City Invitational championship game Friday afternoon at the Coliseum.

No. 2 Garfield (10-3), last year’s Invitational runner-up, is formidible in its own right. And there is the game itself. University is looking to win its first City football title. The last time the Wildcats played for a championship was 1987, when they lost the then-3A title to Westchester.

University Coach E.C. Robinson wants his team to embrace the moment. The task he and his staff face, along with their game preparation, is not having the team feeling added pressure from playing in the title game.

‘My concern is two things: the kids just being happy to be there and handling a team like Garfield, who was there last year and didn’t win it,’ Robinson said. ‘Garfield knows the routine of what is involved this week, while it’s the first some of our kids have been in something of this magnitude.

‘I know some kids will be just happy to be there. So [the coaches] have to impress on them all week long we’re here to win the game.’

-- Mike Terry