CITY SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Sylmar Gets Its Revenge and a Spot in the 4-A Finale

A year ago, Durell Price stood on the Sylmar High football field, openly sobbing on his brother Deon’s shoulder after a one-point loss to Carson High in a City Section 4-A Division semifinal.

On Friday night, Price personally made sure history did not repeat itself.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior running back rushed for 237 yards and four touchdowns in 25 carries to lead Sylmar’s 27-19 victory over Carson in front of a capacity crowd at Sylmar.

The top-seeded Spartans (13-0) will face Crenshaw in the championship game Saturday at El Camino College in Torrance.

Price, like the rest of his teammates, drew motivation from last year’s 22-21 loss to Carson.

“We practiced with 22-21 on the scoreboard all week,” Price said. “I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Price, also a starting middle linebacker, benefited from outstanding line play in addition to down-field blocks by receivers Mike Cervantes and Eddie Lopez.

Carson (4-9), which forfeited three regular-season victories for using an ineligible player, made a fourth-quarter run at Sylmar, but could not come up with the big play.

Carson pulled to 27-19 on a seven-yard pass from Ramon Rodgers to Llewellyn Miller and an extra-point with 2 minutes, 18 seconds remaining.