Football: City Section powers have talent again

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For the first of its weekly Wednesday passing competitions at Los Angeles Loyola, new Cubs Coach Mike Christensen decided to invite three City Section schools _ Crenshaw, Carson and Venice. And the City schools didn’t disappoint.

Certainly, De’Anthony Thomas of Crenshaw looks better than ever. He’s learning how to play cornerback and doing quite well. He also was used as a receiver. I’m beginning to wonder if he might be a better defensive back than running back in college. He’s that good.

I liked junior receiver Gabriel Marks of Venice before he scrapped his knee sliding. He’s got speed and moves.

Carson quarterback Justin Alo should be ready for an All-City season.

As for Loyola, a big surprise was that sophomore tight end Jack Neuheisel, the brother of quarterback Jerry Neuheisel, was an effective target. He doesn’t look like a Neuheisel _ he’s built to hit and block. But he has good hands and made some nice catches against Crenshaw’s quick defensive backs.

If you add Taft, Narbonne, Dorsey and San Pedro, I’d say those are the top City teams for this fall with Crenshaw, Venice and Carson. But somebody’s going to have to stop Thomas to win it all.

-- Eric Sondheimer