HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : CITY 4-A : Carson vs. Banning

Last week, before the City 4-A semifinals, Prime Ticket commissioned an advertising agency to prepare ads for the Banning-Carson championship game Friday at 7:30 p.m. at East Los Angeles College.

“You never know who’s going to win in the playoffs,” said Tim Krass, the marketing manager for Prime Ticket, which will show the game Saturday and Monday. “But I had a pretty good idea they’d both end up there.”

Actually, a Banning-Carson matchup for the championship isn’t a very tough call. It’s a tradition.

This will be the seventh time in the last nine seasons that the Pacific League rivals have played each other for the 4-A title. Banning has won five of the previous six.

Banning, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, is making its fourth straight appearance in the 4-A championship game and 11th in 12 years. The Pilots (11-0) have won 8 of the last 10 City titles.

Carson (10-1) has won two championships in the last 10 years--beating Crenshaw in 1982 and Banning in 1984.

The Colts are making their sixth consecutive appearance in the championship game and will try to continue a recent trend. In the last three years, the team that has lost the regular-season game between the schools has come back to win the City title.

Banning, which leads the series between the schools (16-15) has won the last two games. In last season’s championship, Banning won, 31-6. Last month, a 37-10 win over Carson clinched the league title for the Pilots.

The Banning players, especially those who play defense, have reason to be big-headed. Ten of the 11 members of the unit were named to the All-Pacific League first team.

Senior safety Marvin Pollard and senior linebacker Terrance Powe anchor the unit, which features a line that averages 6-4, 235 pounds. Banning has six shutouts, including five in a row during midseason. The Pilots, who shut out Granada Hills Kennedy, 29-0, in the semifinals, have allowed just 46 points this season.

But there is more to Banning than defense.

Quarterback Ed Kapu runs an offense that is averaging 35 points in the playoffs. The Pilots have had to make up for the loss of senior running back Archie Jean, who injured his knee in the fourth game against Kennedy and played only sparingly last week. Seniors Ricky Moore and Malili Fuanatu have filled the void for the Pilots.

Carson also overcame a key early season injury to get to the championship game.

William Pope, a senior, was moved from wide receiver to quarterback when starter George Malauulu suffered a hyper-extended elbow in the second game of the season against St. Paul. Malauulu is available for the championship but will only play if Pope falters.

Pope leads an offense that scored three touchdowns in its first nine plays last week in the Colts’ 56-14 semifinal win over Granada Hills. Pope completed 6 of 8 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown.

Carson also has a pair of senior running backs that run equally well out of either the I-formation or split backfield. Alvin Goree, who has rushed for 879 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, scored four short-yardage touchdowns against Granada Hills. Calvin Holmes has rushed for 1,056 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.