PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM LAST WEEK’S GAMES : MASS INFRACTION

Carson’s reputation as a heavily penalized team grew to mythic proportions Friday night against Lincoln in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

The Colts, who entered the game averaging 87.5 yards a game in penalties, held on for a 28-24 victory at Garfield High despite being penalized 29 times for 302 yards, according to Carson statistician Tim Finney.

Asked if the 302 yards in penalties was a school record, Finney replied, “Heck, it’s a world record. In 23 years, I have never seen anything like that.”

Carson Coach Marty Blankenship said his school intends to lodge a complaint with City administrators about the officiating, which he said was the worst he had ever seen.

“You would have had to been there to believe it,” Blankenship said. “It was amazing. I was ready to find my own flag and throw it. It seemed like (the officials) were looking for everything and anything. It was like they didn’t want us to win.”

Despite dominating the statistics (Carson outgained Lincoln, 457 yards to 147), the second-seeded Colts needed a late goal-line stand to avoid an upset.

After Lincoln intercepted a pass by quarterback Jamie Sander in its own territory, Carson was called for three consecutive 15-yard penalties to give Lincoln first down at the Carson 18-yard line. Two plays later, an offsides penalty gave Lincoln first-and-goal at the seven with two minutes 25 seconds left.

That’s where the Carson defense stood its ground. The Colts stopped Lincoln on four plays and took possession at the eight with 1:43 left before running out the clock.

MILESTONE

Sander, the Carson quarterback, didn’t have one of his better games against Lincoln. He completed only 10 of 23 attempts and was intercepted twice, but his 209 yards moved him to the top of Carson’s career passing list.

Sander has passed for 4,240 yards in the past two seasons, eclipsing the previous record of 4,223 yards set by John Walsh in 1990.

Sander can add to his total when Carson (7-3-1) plays Jefferson (7-3-1) in a second-round playoff game Wednesday night at Gardena High.

FAREWELL TO BOSE

There’s still basketball, but Stais Boseman took his last snap as Morningside’s quarterback Friday night in a 38-13 loss to Kennedy of La Palma in the first round of the Southern Section Division VII playoffs at Coleman Stadium in Inglewood.

Even in defeat, Boseman put on a show. He returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and finished with 284 all-purpose yards: 46 yards rushing, 92 yards passing, seven yards receiving and 139 yards on four kickoff returns. Morningside finished 5-5.

“That kid was incredible,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. “He scared us all the way down to the end. Any time he got his hands on the ball, he could have broke loose. He’s an incredible athlete.”

On this night, though, Boseman was upstaged by a more balanced Kennedy team led by quarterback John Guthrie, who passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns. After falling behind on the opening kickoff, the Fighting Irish (8-2-1) scored on their first play from scrimmage, a 64-yard pass from Guthrie to wide receiver Chris Clark. They opened a 31-7 lead late in the third quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Guthrie to wide receiver Wesley Morris.

“I haven’t seen a high school passing game like that in a while,” said Boseman, who also plays defensive back. “Everything they did was just a little bit better than us.”

Boseman said he’ll begin basketball practice Monday. The USC-bound senior led the Monarchs to the State Division III title last season.

“I want to get right back to work,” he said. “I’m frustrated, so I can’t rest.”

HOLD THAT LINE

West Torrance scored four touchdowns and a field goal. Beaumont scored five touchdowns. So how did visiting West come away with a 31-30 victory in the Division IX playoffs?

Beaumont failed on all of its conversion attempts, including a two-point try with 35 seconds left. After missing a point-after kick on its first touchdown, Beaumont tried and failed on four two-point attempts.

Beaumont had two chances on its last two-point try, but after a pass interference penalty moved the ball to the one-yard line, West stuffed a quarterback sneak.

West Coach Kerry Crabb said Beaumont was more physical than his team, but the Warriors prevailed behind the big plays of quarterback Ryan Marshall and wide receivers Ryan Bustos and Josh Faulds. Marshall passed for 220 yards, including three touchdowns to Bustos covering five, 73 and 43 yards, and Faulds returned a punt 85 yards for a TD.

The Warriors (8-3), one of three Pioneer League teams to win playoff openers, will play top-seeded St. Joseph of Santa Maria (10-1) in the second round Friday night at West. St. Joseph advanced with a 47-6 victory over Santa Paula.

ONE-ARMED LINEBACKER

To protect Tevita Moala’s ailing right shoulder, Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins strapped the linebacker’s right wrist to his left shoulder for Friday night’s Division III playoff opener against Schurr of Montebello.

Moala then went out and proved that all he needs is one arm to wreak havoc on a football team. After sitting out the first quarter, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior made 10 tackles, caused a fumble and deflected a pass that was intercepted in the Cougars’ 15-7 victory at Montebello High.

“Other than that, he doesn’t matter to us at all,” Robbins said.

Hawthorne (9-2) won a coin flip Saturday morning to earn the home game for Friday’s second-round meeting against Simi Valley (7-4), which beat third-seeded Rowland, 26-10.

DOING IT ALL

For three quarters Friday night, Banning and Garfield played to a scoreless tie in their 4-A Division playoff opener. Then Banning encountered a one-man wrecking crew in the form of Garfield’s Ernie Manzo.

Manzo blocked a punt, scored a touchdown and blocked a potential game-tying extra point in the fourth quarter to lift Garfield to a 7-6 upset over the fourth-seeded Pilots at Gardena High.

Three plays after Manzo recovered his blocked punt at the Banning 15, he scored on a 19-yard reception. Banning then drove 75 yards to score on a one-yard sneak by quarterback Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au, but Manzo blocked the extra point with 6:44 left to play.

THE SEQUEL

San Pedro, which beat Hamilton, 26-0, in the second week of the season, will play the Yankees again in the second round of the 3-A Division playoffs Wednesday night at Daniels Field after defeating Grant of Van Nuys, 30-0, in Friday’s opener.

San Pedro Coach Mike Walsh said his team probably will have to pass more against Hamilton than it did against Grant. Quarterback Chris Pappas completed only one of six passes, as the Pirates relied on their running game to outgain Grant, 233 yards to 17.

“The first time we played (Hamilton) we were afraid of their team speed,” Walsh said. “It seems like we dominated the first game, but we only scored 26 points. I envision us mixing it up (offensively). They will probably play a nine-man front against us.”

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell credited his defensive front for shutting out Ventura in the second half of a 20-14 victory in the Division III playoffs at Redondo High.

“The kids’ personality came out in the second half,” Kimbrell said. “They played with a lot of heart. The front seven were great.”

Kimbrell cited the play of linemen Eric Fenstermacher (6-foot, 210 pounds), Brendon Ibarra (6-0, 240) and Matt Youngs (6-0, 230), linebackers Taso Papadakis (6-0, 235) and Jerry Pilato (5-9, 220), and ends Bart Glusac (6-4, 225) and Matt Cheeseman (5-11, 185). Linebacker Travis Gannam, who spells Papadakis and Pilato, also played well, Kimbrell said.

Peninsula (9-2) trailed, 14-6, at halftime, but mounted two touchdown drives in the second half, the last one covering 99 yards, to earn a spot in the second round Friday night against top-seeded Bell Gardens (10-1). Peninsula won a coin flip Saturday to earn another home game at Redondo. The Panthers cannot play on their own field in the playoffs because it does not have lights.

ENDING SKIDS

Peninsula’s Kimbrell and South Torrance Coach Don Morrow each ended playoff losing streaks Friday night.

Kimbrell had lost four consecutive playoff openers as the coach at Peninsula (1991), Rolling Hills (1990) and Miraleste (1986 and ‘85). Morrow had lost playoff openers in his first three seasons at South before the Spartans beat visiting Oak Park, 15-0, in a Division IX game.

“This is a big monkey off our backs,” Morrow said.

Before Friday, the last time Kimbrell had enjoyed a playoff victory was in 1984 when he was coaching at Miraleste. The Marauders won two playoff games at Redondo that year before losing in the Desert-Mountain Conference semifinals at Agoura.

“It feels great,” Kimbrell said. “But it wasn’t easy, I can tell you that.”

BIG KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Morrow said part of the reason South running back Chad Morton rushed for 107 yards against Oak Park was the blocking of guard Josh Waybright (6-1, 230), Chad Sauter (6-6, 265) and tight end Doug Dossey (6-0, 195).

“We ran behind them all game,” Morrow said. “We feel like all three kids are worthy of All-Southern Section recognition.”

Morton, a 5-5, 135-pound sophomore, carried the ball 28 times filling in for senior running back Kapono Tumale, who left the game in the first half with a concussion.

“It’s the most carries he’s had and I thought Oak Park did a good job of containing him,” Morrow said. “I don’t know if I really want him carrying the ball 28 times.”

South (8-3) will play Montclair Prep (10-0) of Van Nuys, a 26-0 winner over Murrietta Valley, in the second round Friday at L.A. Valley College. Montclair Prep was not able to participate in the playoffs last season because it was on probation by the Southern Section for rules violations.

DEFENSIVE GEMS

* San Pedro end Alonzo Teodoro had eight tackles, including two sacks, and a fumble recovery in a 30-0 victory over Grant, the Pirates’ sixth shutout.

* North Torrance defensive back Dano Casillas had two interceptions in a 24-14 victory over Calabasas.

* South Torrance lineman Chad Sauter and linebacker Mike Louk combined to sack quarterback Ron Allen for a safety in a 15-0 victory over Oak Park.

* Carson linebacker Don Moala had a team-high 12 tackles in a 28-24 victory over Lincoln.

* Hawthorne defensive back J.J. Arnett got his fifth interception of the season in a 15-7 victory over Schurr.

* Peninsula defensive back Christian Ritter intercepted a pass in the end zone to set up the Panthers’ winning 99-yard touchdown drive in a 20-14 victory over Ventura.

IN QUOTES

Banning Coach Ed Paculba after the fourth-seeded Pilots were upset by Garfield, 7-6: “I don’t know what to say. Our kids played a good game, but maybe they weren’t in the game. It looked like something was holding them back. They just couldn’t get it going.”

Morningside quarterback Stais Boseman after finishing his prep football career in a 38-13 loss to Kennedy: “All good things must come to an end. This is my end.”

North Torrance Coach Joe Austin on his team being penalized 11 times for 112 yards in a 24-14 victory over Calabasas: “You can’t win holding, you can’t win jumping offsides. All those penalties ruin in.”

INJURIES

San Pedro running back Ambrose Russo, the team’s leading rusher, sat out a 30-0 victory over Grant because of a sprained ankle.