Banning Pulls Away From Reseda in Fourth Quarter

Banning High was a better team than Reseda, but you wouldn’t want to shake on it.

Reseda hung around for three quarters against the Pilots before losing, 41-21, in a City Invitational semifinal Friday night.

USC-bound Chris Howard rushed for 213 yards and three touchdowns in 17 carries for Banning, which scored the final three touchdowns of the game, two on long runs by Howard.

“He showed up with his cape tonight,” Coach Ed Lalau of Banning said.

Banning angered Reseda by attempting--and recovering--an onside kick with 39 seconds to play.

After the game, Coach Joel Schaeffer of Reseda told his players to forgo the traditional postgame handshake.

Schaeffer said the onside kick “just is not called for. I didn’t feel real good about bringing my kids out there after a disgraceful thing like that. I didn’t want any type of conflict. Some of our kids were upset.”

So was Banning.

“He needs to understand that whenever you play in the playoffs, you’re going to throw everything out there,” Lalau said. “Had I kicked the ball, they would have run some razzle-dazzle play.”

Reseda (9-4) led the top-seeded Pilots, 21-20, on a 14-yard touchdown run by Eddie Robinson with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Banning (7-5) promptly reeled off the first of three big plays, James Carter turning a short sideline pass into a 70-yard touchdown. Carter broke several tackles on the way to the end zone. Reseda never recovered.

Howard scored on runs of 33 and 60 yards in the fourth quarter. He did not play last week against Marshall because of a knee injury, but he looked plenty healthy against Reseda.

“It felt good that I still had the speed burst,” Howard said. “I guess I’m back now.”

Reseda had its moments in the first quarter, stopping Banning on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line on the Pilots’ first possession.

The Regents also parlayed a Banning fumble into a two-yard touchdown run by Robinson to pull within 7-6 with 2:44 left in the first quarter. The extra-point attempt by Kevin Bush was blocked.

But Howard, who gained 10 yards in three carries in the first quarter, showed speed on his first carry in the second quarter, bursting through a hole in the left side for a 78-yard touchdown run.

Late in the second quarter, the Regents gambled against the clock and lost.

Trailing, 14-6, with six seconds left until halftime, quarterback Carlos Hernandez knelt on fourth down. Only three seconds ticked off the clock, however, and Banning took over on the Reseda 17-yard line.

Wally Salinas found Richard Cox in the end zone on the next play, the final one of the half, to give Banning a 20-6 lead.

Banning, which lost to Mater Dei, St. Paul, Long Beach Poly, San Pedro and Carson this season, will play Gardena in the Invitational championship next Friday at the Coliseum.