No Small Effort by San Pedro : City 3-A final: Castaneda has two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 24-7 victory over Taft.

It did not take much for Bryan Castaneda’s teammates to hoist him atop their shoulders a few moments after the City Section 3-A Division football final Friday night.

But, at 5 feet 6 and 145 pounds, no one made more of an impact than Castaneda for San Pedro High on Friday night.

Castaneda caught two touchdown passes and added two interceptions as his team defeated Taft, 24-7, at Gardena High.

It was the first football title in school history for second-seeded San Pedro, which opened in 1908. And the smallest athlete on the field played the biggest game of his life.

“He played a hell of a ballgame,” San Pedro receiver Bryant Thomas said. “Personally, I think he deserved the MVP.”

Castaneda caught three passes for 86 yards, including scores of 18 and 21 yards to help San Pedro (12-1-1) to a 21-0 lead at halftime. Castaneda hadn’t caught a scoring pass all season.

San Pedro quarterback Chris Pappas completed six of 10 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, Taft (9-5) was reeling from the beginning. San Pedro scored on its first play, a 70-yard pass from Pappas to Thomas, and it was uphill the rest of the way for the Toreadores.

“The plan in every game has been to start with the run, to make them stop our power attack,” Thomas said. “This time, we started with the pass and stayed with it.”

San Pedro also stopped Taft tailback Jerry Brown, who was held to 60 yards in 18 carries.

Taft quarterback Mike Ferguson completed only two of 13 passes for 16 yards and was intercepted three times. He failed to complete his final 10 passes.

“It was just miscommunication on my part with the receivers,” Ferguson said. “But their secondary played a great game.”

Trailing 21-7, Taft had one legitimate chance at coming back with nine minutes to play. The Toreadors drove to the San Pedro 34-yard line, but Ferguson couldn’t connect with receiver Dway McKeith--open near the 10-yard line--on a fourth and nine.