Taft Teams Up on Chatsworth, 13-3 : Three Rushers Share the Ball to Give Taft a Share of Title

Taft High’s Donald Dozier didn’t come close to matching his 161-yard, five-touchdown performance of a week ago, but he didn’t object to sharing the ball Friday night against Chatsworth.

Behind the running of Dozier, Cornell Collier and Kevin Wolfe, who combined to rush for 212 yards, Taft grabbed a piece of the Sunset League championship for the first time since 1977, defeating Chatsworth, 13-3, at Taft.

“This team is a lot better than last year’s,” Collier said. “Last year there were a lot of greedy ball players. There’s no superstars this year. We work as a team.”

Dozier led Taft with 86 yards on 17 attempts, while Collier also carried 17 times and picked up 71 yards. Wolfe rushed 16 times for 55 yards and the game’s only touchdown.

So Taft (4-5, 4-1 in league), which dropped its first five games by a loss or a forfeit, will enter the playoffs with a four-game winning streak that enabled the Toreadors to tie Canoga Park for the league championship. Canoga Park defeated Monroe, 21-14, on Friday.

Chatsworth (5-4, 3-2), which won the previous two Sunset League championships, could still make the playoffs as one of the 3-A Division’s two wild-card teams.

The Chancellors played without their leading rusher, Spence Durham, who spent the game carrying a camera instead of the ball. Durham suffered a broken hand last week.

Without Durham, Chatsworth gained only 95 yards in total offense. Chatsworth’s only notable drive ended with a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter by Danny Joella. The Chancellors had moved the ball 60 yards before the drive stalled at the Taft 13-yard line.

Joella’s kick cut Taft’s lead to 10-3, but the Toreadors increased the margin to 10 points again in the fourth quarter on Adam Zutler’s 28-yard field goal.