Banning Beats Carson in Grid-Hoops Festival

It took a lot of effort and more time than Banning football Coach Joe Dominguez would have prefered, but his Pilots finally prevailed with a 3-2 championship victory over rival Carson in the El Camino Grid and Hoops festival.

Carson forced a second game of the 7-on-7 passing competition with a 6-5 win in the first championship game, but an hour later, on the last play of the second game, Banning quarterback John Ma’ae hit Travis Davis with a seven-yard score to give the Pilots a 3-2 victory.

“Mainly, it was a matter of the coach calling the right plays at the right time,” said Davis, who had four touchdown catches in the two games against Carson. “I was working to get open and they were covering me pretty good, but I got in the hole a couple of times.”

Carson scored first when quarterback Armon Youngblood hooked up with Rashal Lotario on a 14-yard touchdown, and Bobby Perkins’ 40-yard interception return gave the Colts a 2-0 lead.

Banning cut into the lead when Ma’ae connected with Davis from the 14, and tied the contest when Ma’ae returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown.

Both teams’ offenses sputtered until Banning started the game-winning drive with four minutes remaining.

“Ma’ae was a little sluggish on offense, so one of the coaches suggested we put him on defense to see if we could perk him up,” Dominguez said. “And sure enough, boom, he picks off that interception and turns the offense right around.”

Ironically, Carson also forced the second championship game with a touchdown on the last play of regulation when Youngblood hit Lotario from 17 yards out.

Tydus Winans, who had four touchdown catches in the contest, gave the Colts the lead on the first play of the game when he grabbed a Youngblood pass on the 20 and outran the defenders into the end zone. Carson scored again five plays later when Kenny Lincoln intercepted Ma’ae’s pass at the one and ran it all the way back.

Michael James caught touchdown passes of 29 and five yards, and Ma’ae and Davis teamed up to give the Pilots a 3-2 lead from one yard out.

Winans scored, Banning’s Davis scored and Winans scored twice more for a 5-4 Carson advantage.

Banning’s two-minute drive resulted in a game-tying James touchdown from 23 yards out, but Carson got the ball back with 4:30 remaining.

Winans caught an 18-yard pass to the 12 and one play later, Lotario hauled in the winning score.

Because Banning beat Carson in the semifinals, the Colts had to play West Torrance before getting another shot at the Pilots.