Carson Topples Kennedy, 53-0

Carson High showed no adverse effects of an 11-day layoff and the absence of a key offensive player Wednesday night, running away with a 53-0 win over Kennedy of Granada Hills in the quarter-finals of the L.A. City 4-A football playoffs at Gardena High.

Quarterback Perry Klein passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others, and the top-seeded Colts limited Kennedy to minus 15 yards rushing en route to their ninth straight win.

Carson (10-1) will play a rematch with Dorsey (9-2) in the semi-finals on Dec. 2. The Colts won the first meeting, 32-20, three weeks ago on their way to the Pacific League title.

Wednesday’s game marked the 40th playoff win for Coach Gene Vollnogle in his 26 years at Carson. The Colts have a 40-13 post-season record and are bidding for their seventh City title.

Carson was in control the entire way despite the absence of starting wingback Larry Billoups, who was sidelined with a strained Achilles’ tendon. His teammates more than made up for him, however.

Klein completed 9 of 12 passes for 91 yards, including touchdowns of 16 and 11 yards to running back Errol Sapp. Wingback Armin Youngblood also scored 2 touchdowns on a 38-yard pass from quarterback Fred Gatlin and a 7-yard run that gave the Colts a 39-0 lead early in the third quarter.

Carson had the game well in hand by half time, scoring touchdowns on 5 of 7 first-half possessions to take a 32-0 lead. Turnovers prevented the Colts from scoring on their other two offensive series.

Kennedy (7-5), the third-place finisher from the North Valley League, had only 32 yards in the first half and finished with 74. The lopsided game was marred by many penalties and several scuffles that broke out in the second half. Carson had three players ejected and Kennedy two.

Carson built a 12-0 first quarter lead, marching 68 and 71 yards for touchdowns on the first two possessions.

Klein completed 5 passes for 58 yards on the first drive, capping it with a 16-yard scoring throw to Sapp, who caught the ball in the right flat and raced to the end zone.

Gatlin gained most of the yardage on the second scoring march on a 33-yard scramble, in which he kept his balance by going down on one hand. Two plays later, fullback Samila Manu scored from 2 yards out to make it 12-0. A 2-point conversion try failed.

Carson took advantage of good field position on all three of its scoring drives in the second quarter. The Colts went 38, 41 and 19 yards for the three touchdowns in the period.