City 3-A Championship : Dorsett Leads Fairfax to 27-0 Win Over Chatsworth

Fairfax High School could hardly be blamed for being nervous and struggling in the first half of Thursday night’s City 3-A championship game before an estimated crowd of 5,000 at East Los Angeles College.

After all, it was the Lions’ first appearance ever in a City football championship game. But they persevered behind a brilliant defense, while waiting for the offense to come alive, and won the title, 27-0, over Chatsworth.

The victory completed a perfect 12-0 season for Fairfax. Chatsworth, incurring its first loss since September, finished 8-3-1.

Fairfax, the top statistical offensive and defensive team in the City, posted its sixth shutout of the season. The Lions forced four turnovers and limited Chatsworth to 142 total yards.

But the offense did its part, as quarterback Rodney Dorsett threw three touchdowns passes. The Lions scored when they had to against a defense that had allowed only 95 points coming into the game.

La’Trelle Barnes set up the third-quarter touchdown that gave Fairfax breathing room. Taking a pass in the flat from Dorsett, Barnes ran down the right sideline, then reversed to the left sideline for a 65-yard pass play that put the Lions at the Chatsworth two. On the next play, Derek Mallard caught a touchdown pass, and a two-point conversion made it 15-0.

How did Fairfax make the second-half turnaround on offense? “We made a lot of mistakes,” Fairfax Coach Denis Furlong said. “I thought we were going to score points. I just didn’t think it would be that hard.”

Barnes said: “The Coach was nervous the first half. He was calling all the wrong plays. He told us that.

“We knew what to do (in the second half). They hit, but we knew how to play them.”

The first half was a mixture of mistakes and ineptitude. The problem for Chatsworth was that Fairfax was a much better team with enough talent to overcome its mistakes, which was why the Lions led, 7-0.

As it turned out, Chatsworth’s failure to capitalize on Fairfax’s errors cost the Chancellors the only chance they had at winning.

In the first half, the Lions’ defense limited Chatsworth to 13 total yards and allowed only one first down, which came on a penalty.

Derrick Davis intercepted two passes, the second just before halftime to set up the only first-half score.

The touchdown came on a 46-yard pass play from Rodney Dorsett to Mark McGroarty, who was wide open at the 10.

McGroaty’s touchdown came at the end of a frustrating first half for the Lions. They moved at will but couldn’t score, having one touchdown called back on a penalty and another drive stopped at one.