It’s <i> Deja Vu </i> for Crenshaw, Sylmar in 54-13 Rout of Jefferson

No surprise here. Sylmar High tailback Tyrone Crenshaw is always at his best in first-round playoff games.

Crenshaw, the defending City Section 4-A Division player of the year, rushed for 245 yards and three touchdowns in 20 carries to lead Sylmar’s 54-13 rout of Jefferson.

Sylmar (9-1-1), East Valley League and defending 4-A City champion, notched its eighth consecutive victory and will face Venice, a 49-13 winner over Van Nuys, Wednesday in a quarterfinal-round game.

Jefferson finished 7-4.

Crenshaw, who rushed for 317 yards against Venice in last year’s first-round game, scored on runs of 24, 26 and two yards.

The 5-11, 185-pound senior had amassed 164 yards by halftime, pacing the Spartans to a 27-7 lead at intermission.

“The blocking was great,” Crenshaw said.

“It was like practice. I hope it’s like that the rest of the way . . . but, I know it probably won’t be.”

Crenshaw carried only once in the fourth quarter, clearing the way for Sylmar’s cornucopia of running backs.

Durell Price, a 6-1, 210-pound sophomore who plays fullback when Crenshaw is in the lineup, scored two of his three touchdowns after Crenshaw took a seat on the sideline.

Price scored his first touchdown on a flare pass from Eddie Lopez that went 18 yards early in the second quarter to give Sylmar a 21-0 lead.

Sylmar scored 20 points in under three minutes early in that period to take a 27-point lead.

Price scored on runs of 17 and 15 yards in a 19-point final quarter. By then, Jefferson had all but boarded the bus and headed for home. The Democrats looked physically beat up.

“That’s the way we play football,” Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman said.

“We execute and keep beating down on people.”

Sylmar held Jefferson to 145 yards, but allowed two touchdowns--7 1/2 more points than its average.

Meanwhile, Sylmar amassed 462 yards, including 416 from its ground game.

To get things started, Anthony Munoz recovered a Jefferson fumble at the Democrats’ 24 less than a minute into the game, setting up Crenshaw’s first touchdown run.

Crenshaw raced through a huge hole and made a couple of quick cuts before diving into the end zone on his side for no other reason than to have some fun. He left defenders back at the five-yard line.