Emotions Run High for Gardena Players

Gardena’s football team continues to ride a wave of emotion following a 26-13 season-opening victory over Gardena Serra.

Gardena was playing its first game since the death of Jeffrey Gardner Jr., last season’s starting quarterback who was shot to death Jan. 18 while sitting in a car with friends in Lennox. Gardner was 16.

No arrests have been made in the case.

“The kids were very much conscious of [Jeff] not being there,” Gardena Coach Marshall Jones said. “They had a players-only meeting when they went on the field and they were pretty emotional.”

Gardena players are wearing a No. 3 sticker on their helmets in memory of Gardner, who guided the team to the City Section’s division playoffs last season.

“We’re always going to be thinking about him,” Jones said. “We got through our first game and for the most part did pretty well. It was a good way to start.”

Gardena plays Huntington Park this week and is hoping to get another outstanding performance from senior running back Deshon Harris, who gained 241 yards and scored four touchdowns against Serra.

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Troy Starr, football coach of defending City champion Woodland Hills Taft, was suspended for one game and his program was put on one-year probation by the City Section for violations relating to the transfer of Gerard Jones from Reseda to Taft.

Jones, a senior wide receiver and defensive back, transferred through open enrollment in the spring. However, he lacked one piece of paperwork--a pupil accounting report--and should not have practiced at Taft until Reseda forwarded the form to his new school.

Starr will miss next week’s game against Dorsey if his appeal is denied.

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Fairfax, which lost its opener to Jordan and plays Marshall on Friday, has the state’s longest losing streak at 35 games.

Willits High defeated Ukiah Deep Valley Christian, 19-14, last week, ending its losing streak at 34 games.