Carson Wins Another Shot at City Title

San Fernando High twice aligned five players along the right sideline and three on the left, with only a center at the line of scrimmage. Both times the formation failed.

Not much else worked, either, for San Fernando on Friday night before 1,500 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium against Carson.

Now, as usual, Carson is back in line for another shot at the City Section 4-A Division championship.

Carson, the defending 4-A champion, easily handled the Tigers, 31-9, to advance to the championship game for the seventh consecutive season.

The Colts, who have outscored their opponents, 423-62, and are ranked third in a national poll, will play Granada Hills, a 55-6 winner over Cleveland in Friday’s other semifinal.

Carson did the job by relying on some big guns on defense. San Fernando, after a 2-8 season a year ago, finished 7-2-1 behind triggerman Joe Mauldin, the Tigers’ senior quarterback.

But Mauldin, who entered the game with 1,560 yards passing and 14 touchdowns this season and was also the team’s leading rusher with 414 yards, spent most of the game fleeing from Carson defenders, or worse, weathering their hits.

Sacked six times for minus-48 yards and harassed on numerous other plays, Mauldin completed only 6 of 19 passes for 73 yards. When he managed to sneak past the Colts’ front line, Mauldin gained 44 yards in 11 carries, for a net minus-4 yards rushing.

“I’d thought we’d have a good chance to win,” Mauldin said, “but their defense just overpowered us.”

The mauling of Mauldin was nothing new to Carson, which has bagged the opposition quarterback a school-record 68 times. The Colts’ defense limited the Tigers to 143 yards and the offense rolled for 386 yards.

“I looked across the field before the game started, and they had 80 kids to our 34,” San Fernando Coach Tom Hernandez said. “We had five guys going both ways. We had a great season, but in this game, we were just trying to hang on.”

Instead, Carson hung a defeat on San Fernando.

Carson quarterback George Malauulu, who also faced heavy pressure, passed for 2 touchdowns and 122 yards while completing 7 of 16 passes. He was sacked three times for minus-28 yards.

Colt tailback Errol Sapp scored two touchdowns and rushed for a game-high 167 yards, including 116 in the first half when Carson built a commanding 17-0 lead.

Carson expanded its lead to 31-0 on a third-quarter nine-yard touchdown pass from Malauulu to Brian Treggs, and a fourth-quarter 11-yard run by Tyrone Bland.

San Fernando’s first score came midway through the fourth quarter on a safety when Carson snapped the ball out of the end zone. The Tigers scored two minutes later when reserve quarterback Michael Wynn ran 57 yards for a touchdown.