Davis Drives Santa Monica

In a sea of Ocean League teams that advanced to the late rounds of the playoffs, Santa Monica proved unsinkable.

Derrick Davis rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns in 33 carries to lead the Vikings to a 28-14 victory over Ocean League rival North Torrance Friday night in the Southern Section Division X championship game at North Torrance High.

Davis, a 5-foot-8 senior tailback, had 108 yards in the first half when Santa Monica (11-2) capitalized on sloppy play and poor execution by the Saxons (12-2) to take a 20-0 lead.

Santa Monica, one of three Ocean League teams that advanced to the semifinals, handed North Torrance both of its losses this season. The Vikings beat the Saxons, 23-20, on a last-minute touchdown by Davis on Oct. 12.

“I think maybe they felt it was a fluke the first time,” Davis said. “We just wanted to come out here and prove that it wasn’t. And we did that.”

Davis scored on a three-yard run for Santa Monica’s first score with 10:37 left in the first quarter, and James Cooper completed a five-yard pass play to Terrell Maze to make it 14-0 with 4:54 remaining.

Both scores followed interceptions of Kenny Brown passes, including one by Davis.

That lead was expanded to 20-0 on a two-yard run by Davis with 46 seconds to go in the half, eight plays after Santa Monica recovered a fumble by Brown.

Although Brown rallied the Saxons in the fourth quarter, when they scored all their points, it was a case of too little, too late.

“We knew we had to come out hard and get a jump on them,” Davis said. “That’s a great team over there, but we deserved it.”

The Vikings made it 28-0 on a three-yard run by Cooper, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

In the fourth quarter, North Torrance got its first score on a 13-yard pass play from Brown to Ryan Lauderdale with 11:15 remaining. On the drive, Brown completed four of six passes for 52 yards.

North Torrance’s last score came on 35-yard pass play from Brown to Michael Bolio with 5:10 left.