CITY FOOTBALL SEMIFINALS : Preliminaries Leave Only the Heavyweights

Three weeks ago, the City Section 4-A Division football playoffs began with all 12 teams qualifying. Many thought that the first two rounds were warmups for the four dominant teams in the division: Carson, Dorsey, Wilmington Banning and Granada Hills. They were right.

Tonight, those four teams will play in the semifinals, Banning (8-3) meeting Dorsey (9-2) at Gardena High, and Carson (10-1) playing Granada Hills (10-1) at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Since losing three of its first five games, Banning has become one of the hottest teams in the City. The Pilots, who did not make the playoffs last year, have a six-game winning streak, including a 21-0 victory over Dorsey, the defending City champion, late in the season.

Travis Davis, a senior tailback, has been the force behind the second-seeded Pilots’ streak. In Banning’s 20-10 quarterfinal victory over Kennedy of Granada Hills, Davis rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown, intercepted two passes and returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score.

Dorsey, which defeated Carson in last season’s final, 26-15, has changed quarterbacks since its last meeting with Banning. Lamont Warren, last year’s City player of the year at tailback, now calls signals for the Dons, having replaced Ronald Peebles, who has a thumb injury. In his two games as a starter, Warren has passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns.

In Dorsey’s 21-7 quarterfinal victory over San Fernando, Warren rushed for a touchdown and passed for scores to Keyshawn Johnson and Chris Miller. Junior tailback Sharmon Shah rushed for 112 yards in 17 carries.

In Coach Gene Vollnogle’s last season, Carson will take an eight-game winning streak into its game with Granada Hills. The Colts are led by quarterback John Walsh, who has passed for 3,678 yards, 42 touchdowns and broken 22 school records this season.

In Carson’s 54-0 victory over Woodland Hills El Camino Real last Friday, Abdul Muhammad had 140 return yards and a touchdown, and Latario Rachel caught five passes for 88 yards and scored five touchdowns, among them an 83-yard kickoff return and a 76-yard punt return.

Granada Hills, which last won the City title in 1987, is led by Bryan Martin, who has passed for 1,718 yards and 19 touchdowns, and Brett Washington, who has rushed for 1,554 yards and 23 touchdowns.

In the 3-A Division semifinals, Lincoln (8-3-1) will play Belmont (10-1) at East Los Angeles College, and Poly (9-3) will play Fairfax (11-0) at Venice High.

All games will start at 7:30 p.m.