Dorsey Races Into City 4-A Final

For more than a month, Dorsey High players have said that they wanted to play Wilmington Banning for the City 4-A Division football title.

The Dons did their part Friday night with a 40-13 rout of Sylmar before an estimated crowd of 4,000 at Birmingham High in Van Nuys.

Then Banning did its part, defeating Granada Hills Kennedy, 26-6, in the other 4-A semifinal.

Last month, Banning gained national attention when it forfeited its regular-season game with Dorsey because of fear of violence. Since then both teams have been on course for next weekend’s City championship.

“We’ve got a grudge against Banning because we took it as a personal insult,” said Dorsey’s Brian Benbow, who rushed 11 times for a career-high 179 yards and two touchdowns against Sylmar.

However, Dorsey (10-1-1) got a scare early when Sylmar’s Brian Roberson ran 82 yards with the opening kickoff to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead. But the Dons soon recovered behind the running of Benbow and Sharmon Shah, who gained 134 yards in 16 carries and also scored twice.

After a 58-yard run by Benbow late in the first quarter, Dorsey tied the score on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Damon Williams to Antonio Carrion.

The Dons took a 13-7 lead on a four-yard run by Shah, which was set up by a 36-yard punt return by Carrion. Dorsey then scored again on a 20-yard run by Benbow to take a 19-7 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Dorsey scored on a 74-yard pass play from Williams to Carrion, and a 20-yard run by Benbow. Shah then finished the scoring with a 21-yard run in the fourth quarter. Carrion had a total of 270 yards in offense from both punt returns and receptions.

“Carrion is a great player who gets overlooked on our team because of Shah and our big linemen,” Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said. “And, (Benbow) really took us out of some holes with big runs a couple of times.”

Sylmar (10-2) scored again late in the game on a two-yard run by Tobaise Brookins, who finished with 22 yards in 16 carries.

Banning 26, Granada Hills Kennedy 6--Shayzar Hawkins rushed for 202 yards in 21 carries and scored four touchdowns. Hawkins scored three times in the fourth quarter, to help visiting Banning (12-1) take a 26-0 lead.