Dominguez Finds Faster Gear Than Antelope Valley

Compton Dominguez High continued on the fast track to prominence among Southern Section football teams, churning out a 19-0 victory over Antelope Valley on Friday night at Dominguez.

The Dons (4-0), with a backfield of sprinters, rushed for 259 yards, passed for none, and kept Antelope Valley’s All-American safety, Tony Walker, busy making touchdown-saving tackles.

The game was non-league, but not non-essential in the minds of the Dons. Dominguez has out-scored four opponents 170-7, and with a convincing shutout over a team that has appeared in the Division II final the past two years, the Dons believe they have come of age.

“We want respect and I think we earned it,” said Jason Thomas, who scored two touchdowns and anchored Dons’ defense at free safety.

Thomas, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound left-handed quarterback, is better known for his basketball ability. He won the Wooden Award as the state’s top player last season as a sophomore.

Should he lose his jump shot, he can fall back on football. Thomas rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries, returned a blocked field goal 81 yards for another score, and matched Walker tackle-for-tackle as a safety.

“I haven’t seen too many guys like him.” Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb said of Thomas. “He’s at the next level.”

Walker was Antelope Valley’s answer to Thomas, and he rushed for 95 yards in 18 carries in his first full game at tailback. He also returned a punt 51 yards, a kickoff 42 yards and intercepted a pass.

But the only time he reached the end zone, on a 17-yard run in the second quarter, the play was nullified by a penalty.

Antelope Valley (3-1) hurt itself the entire game, losing the ball four times on fumbles and once on an interception.

“We mistaked ourselves out of it,” Newcomb said.

Antelope Valley squandered three drives deep in Dominguez territory in the first half, and the last one resulted in the Dons’ second touchdown.

After quarterback Justin Mobley was sacked on third down, a 42-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half was blocked by Chris Rhoades and caught on the fly by Thomas, who returned it 81 yards to give Dominguez a 12-0 lead.

The Antelopes were stopped on a fourth-and-one inch play at the Dominguez nine-yard line, with eight minutes to play in the half.

And early in the second quarter, fullback Eric Mobley, Justin’s twin, fumbled at the Dons’ 13 after a 16-yard run. The turnover ended a 49-yard drive.

Thomas also scored the Dons’ first touchdown, going five yards to cap a 98-yard, 17-play drive. The march lasted seven minutes and was keyed by a fake punt run by Thomas on fourth and nine from the Dons’ 20.

Dominguez added a touchdown with two minutes to play on a six-yard run by Damon Relf.

Antelope Valley, which had 59 yards passing and 136 yards rushing, fumbled on its last three possessions.