Dorsey Had to Work Game Plan to Perfection

On paper, the City 4-A Division championship football game Friday night between top-ranked Carson and Dorsey high schools figured to be a rout for the Colts.

Carson, a perennial powerhouse, had seven City championships to its credit. Dorsey had never reached a 4-A final and had never beaten Carson in nine previous meetings, including a 29-8 loss earlier this season.

Carson (10-2) was the defending City champion and its coach, Gene Vollnogle, was going for his record-breaking 10th title. In two previous playoff games, the Colts had outscored their opponents, 89-7. Dorsey (10-3) lost two of its first three games this season and had outscored its earlier playoff opponents, 40-21.

The Colts appeared to be too fast and too strong, but somehow Dorsey managed to defeat Carson, 26-15.

“It still feels good,” Dorsey Co-Coach Paul Knox said at The Times’ annual football banquet Sunday. “The kids really worked hard for this and they deserve it.”

The Dons also benefited from Carson’s misfortunes.

The week before the game, the Colts lost three defensive starters for various reasons:

--Starting junior cornerback Clayvand Thomas, an All-City performer, was suspended from the team after a school fighting incident.

--Thomas’ backup, Kenny Lincoln, suffered a head injury in a separate fighting incident last Thursday.

--Defensive tackle Todd Zerillo was sidelined with a leg injury.

However, the Colts still had standout linebacker Nkosi Littleton, linemen Marcus Long and Bob Tuitau, and backs Bobby Perkins and Tarriel Hopper as the mainstays of a defense that had allowed only 72 points and 78 first downs all season.

Dorsey’s ability to confuse Carson’s pass defense coverage enabled the Dons to pile up 271 yards of total offense. Dorsey was able to maneuver tailback Lamont Warren into man-to-man pass coverage, forcing the Colts to make adjustments. Warren finished with five catches for 110 yards.

These moves also opened Dorsey’s running game, allowing Warren, who gained 101 yards in 25 carries, and fullback Larry Edmonds, who rushed for 64 yards in nine carries, to find holes through the middle.

The combination of Dorsey quarterback Chris Cook and an offensive line that averaged 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds forced Carson away from its normal pass rush and blitz.

“We knew that we had to spread out their defense,” Knox said. “When we motioned Warren, we were able to catch them blitzing with their strong safety, leaving him open.”

After Carson scored to start the fourth quarter, cutting Dorsey’s lead to 20-15, the Dons were able to control the ball. Warren’s pass-catching and rushing helped to set up Edmonds’ 25-yard touchdown run with 2:13 remaining in the game.

On defense, the Dons were successful in frustrating Carson quarterback Armin Youngblood, who had four passes intercepted. Youngblood, who had suffered a knee injury in Carson’s semifinal win over Crenshaw, completed seven of 26 passes for 96 yards.

“I just wasn’t clicking,” said Youngblood, who set a school record this season with 30 touchdown passes. “I missed a lot of practice time because of my knee and I don’t know if that was a factor or not. I just did not have the game I wanted and needed to have.”

Dorsey Co-Coach Eugene McAdoo, the defensive coordinator, said the Dons were not awed by Carson.

“We take pride in that we always come to play, and we were never intimidated by them,” McAdoo said. “We really studied their films, and we thought that we could confuse Youngblood with different coverages.”

Dorsey became the first inner-city team to win a major division title since Los Angeles in 1965.

Only 4,000 fans attended the 4-A final, but more than 12,000 watched Franklin defeat Garfield at East Los Angeles College in the City 3-A Division final Friday night.

Behind quarterback Santiago Alvarez, who passed for three touchdowns for a total of 52 for the season, the Panthers won their third title in the last four years. Franklin Coach Armando Gonzales has a 44-5 record during that span.

Prep Notes

Some of the best high school milers in the nation will compete in the first National Indoor Mile at the Sunkist Invitational meet Jan. 16 at the Sports Arena. The field will include Bryan Dameworth of Agoura, winner of the 11th annual Kinney national cross-country meet earlier this month; Martin Keino of Fork Union, Va., son of Kenya’s four-time Olympic medal-winner, Kip Keino, and Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande, who finished third behind Dameworth. . . . Debbie Fischer of Huntington Beach Edison set a Southern Section record by making 10 three-point shots against Corona Dec. 11 in the Savanna tournament. Edison defeated Corona, 69-37, and Fischer scored 40 points.