GAME OF THE WEEK : Cougars Fall Inches Short of Upsetting Carson, 21-20

If Crenshaw High’s 21-20 loss to Carson Friday afternoon is any indication of how the Cougars will fare in City Section play this season, Southern Pacific Conference opponents better watch out.

The Cougars out-passed, out-rushed, out-hit and out-hustled Carson, but fell short on the all important scoreboard, thanks to a questionable fourth-down fourth-quarter mark by officials that led to Carson’s winning touchdown.

After rallying from a 14-6 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 20-14 lead, Crenshaw appeared to have stopped the Colts’ Joseph Redmond short of a first down on a fourth-and-one play from the Cougars’ 17-yard line with 2:16 remaining in the game.

Once both teams cleared from the middle of the field pileup, however, Carson gained the first down by inches.

“It did not look like they had it,” said Crenshaw tailback Farrell Payton. “He looked like he was down short of the first down.”

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Following a team misconduct penalty against Crenshaw for arguing against the first down, Carson needed only one play to tie the score when Redmond blasted in from eight yards out.

The Colts then took the lead, 21-20, on an extra-point kick by Rafael Mares.

With 1:51 remaining, Crenshaw tried to come back and drove the ball to the Colts’ 31-yard line. The Cougars’ vision of winning, however, ended when a pass bounced off the hands of receiver Kirk Oliver into the arms of Redmond at the 14-yard line with 1:10 left.

“This was a good game, but we just had some bad breaks,” Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said. “On our last drive, we knew that we were either going to score (a touchdown) or move in close enough for a field goal.”

Crenshaw--which outgained Carson in total offense, 380 to 242 yards--took a 6-0 first quarter lead on a 10-yard run by Payton. Carson responded later in the quarter when Llewelyn Miller caught a screen pass from Ramon Rogers and scored a touchdown from 40 yards.

“I hope that we get a chance to play them again because we know that we’ll be ready,” Payton said. “It will surely be a good game.”