GAME OF THE WEEK : Great Scott! Crenshaw QB Leads Upset Over Banning

Crenshaw reinforced its claim as the city’s newest high school football power with an impressive 24-6 home win Friday over Banning.

Crenshaw, the defending 3-A Division champion, dominated the Pilots to improve to 3-1. Banning, runner-up in the 4-A Division last year, dropped to 2-2.

“We’ve been saying all along that Banning is just another football team,” Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said. “We can play with anybody, anytime, anywhere.”

The Cougars surpassed Banning in total yards, 329 to 95, behind the rushing of Saeed Akman and Dennis Fomond, and the passing of quarterback Eric Scott.

“It was a whole lot easier than we thought it would be,” said Scott, who completed five of seven passes for 85 yards and one touchdown. “We thought that Banning would be ready to play because no one wants to lose to Crenshaw.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Crenshaw’s offense got on track when Scott connected with Tremaine Miles on a 25-yard pass play and followed up with a 28-yard completion to Miles for a touchdown. The Cougars led 8-0 after Fomond’s two-point conversion run.

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Banning appeared to have momentum going into the second half after cutting Crenshaw’s lead to 8-6 at the end of the second quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au to Jason Ping. But Crenshaw ended any hope for a Banning comeback by limiting the Pilots to two offensive plays in the third quarter, both of which ended in turnovers.

Crenshaw opened the second half by recovering an onside kick and then driving 48 yards to take a 16-6 lead. Nickey Smith scored for the Cougars on an eight-yard run, and Scott added the extra two points.

Banning turned the ball over again on a Faavi-Tua’au fumble and Crenshaw responded with a 46-yard drive capped by a Fomond one-yard touchdown run. Scott followed with a two-point conversion pass to Francios Eugene.

With a 24-6 lead, Crenshaw dug in to stop Banning and tailback Damin Hurst, who finished with 47 yards in 10 carries. The Pilots gained only nine yards in 14 offensive plays in the second half.

“They played us strong last year and this year they just wanted it more,” said Faavi-Tua’au, who completed three of six passes for 36 yards with one interception. Salih Otey, Terrance Zepher-Hill, Darrell Mayo, Eugene and Fomond kept pressure on Faavi-Tua’au throughout the game in accounting for five sacks.

“We played well but we are still making mistakes,” Garrett said.

Next week: Crenshaw at Gardena; Banning at San Clemente.