Carson Wins Fourth in a Row, 14-6 : Prep football: Colts dominate Crenshaw physically, but offense is still lacking.

Three games into the season, the Carson High football team found itself in an unfamiliar predicament. It did not have any victories and its offense was struggling.

The Colts seem to have solved half of their dilemma. By beating Crenshaw, 14-6, Friday at home, they won their fourth game in a row to improve to 4-2-1.

But Carson’s offense continues to be a problem. It managed only 156 total yards, and senior Jamie Sanders was sacked five times and fumbled twice.

His first fumble proved costly, as Crenshaw linebacker Darrell Mayo recovered and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead in the second quarter.

Sanders redeemed himself with two minutes left in the game when he completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Nakia Wheeler to give Carson its second score of the game. But the drive was only kept alive because of three questionable penalties against the Crenshaw defense, including a pass interference and roughing the passer.

“I don’t know what went wrong,” said Marty Blankenship, Carson’s second-year coach. “We came out flat from the first play and stayed that way. It was definitely a lack of concentration from the beginning . . . all mental.”

Carson’s coaching staff also seemed in disarray at times. The team had several delay-of-game penalties and Blankenship kept a Crenshaw drive alive late in the game by calling a timeout when the team had none remaining.

In the end, though, it was Carson’s dominance on defense that made the difference. It limited Crenshaw to 82 yards total offense and sacked Eric Scott six times. The Cougars’ only serious offensive scoring threat ended on the Colts’ 18-yard line midway through third quarter when they failed to convert on a fourth and three.

Crenshaw, rated 19th in the Southland by The Times, had established itself as the front-runner in the 4-A race this season after easily winning its first two games in the Southern Pacific Conference, including a 24-6 victory over Wilmington Banning.

The Colts went ahead for good late in the second quarter on a one-yard run up the middle by Donald Coulter. The touchdown was set up by a 40-yard run by Ray Crayton and capped a drive that started at their 20.