Inglewood Keeps Hopes Alive

If Santa Monica was supposed to run through the Ocean League to show it has returned as a Southern Section power, somebody forgot to tell Inglewood. The Sentinels, who won the league title last year and advanced to the Division X final, proved they are still the team to beat in the league with a convincing 30-12 victory over Santa Monica Friday night at Santa Monica College.

A victory by Santa Monica could have put the Vikings in the driver’s seat for their first league title since 1988 and given them momentum to make a run at its first section title since 1981, but Inglewood would have none of that.

“I think we showed we are still Inglewood and we’re still the champions,” lineman Lawrence Jackson said. “I think we got dogged in the preseason polls, but tonight we showed you can’t count us out.”

With two games remaining, Inglewood (7-1, 4-1 in league play) and Santa Monica (5-2, 4-1) are tied atop the Ocean League along with North Torrance,, which handed Inglewood its only loss. The Sentinels took advantage of six Santa Monica turnovers, including three interceptions thrown by quarterback James Cooper.

The turning point of the game came late in the first half. Santa Monica, trailing 8-6, drove to the Inglewood 13 with 1:10 remaining, but Inglewood’s Keith Jackson sacked Cooper for an 11-yard loss and on the next play, Wesley Dantzler intercepted his second pass of the game and returned it 34 yards. One play later, Inglewood quarterback Nathan Beavers found Renaldo Davis for a 59-yard gain to the Santa Monica one. Beavers dove over the top for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion increased Inglewood’s lead to 16-6 when it appeared Santa Monica would take the halftime lead.

“We didn’t make the big plays tonight and they did,” Santa Monica Coach Norm Lacy said. “The turnovers hurt us big time. But will this team get down? I don’t think so. This is just one game and we have a chance to share the league title. That’s OK too.”

A glance at the offensive statistics offers little indication that Inglewood won this game. Lavell Lemon led the Sentinels with 58 rushing yards and Beavers completed only three of nine passes for 109 yards. But the five turnovers and nine sacks by the Inglewood defense spoke volumes about how they won the game.

Santa Monica struck first, scoring on a 55-yard pass from Cooper to Charles Gordon late in the first quarter, but Inglewood quickly answered with a three-play scoring drive capped by Lemon’s 34-yard run.

Inglewood’s ball-control offense took over in the second half, mounting a 79-yard scoring drive on its first possession after intermission for a 22-6 lead. The Sentinels took a 30-6 lead on the final play of the third quarter when, after Chris Anderson recovered a Santa Monica fumble, Beavers found Martel London for a 10-yard touchdown. “I think we saw a team tonight that is going to be in contention for a Southern Section title,” Lacy said. “We need to take something from this. We saw what it takes, now we have to become that.”

Cooper completed 12 of 23 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns to lead Santa Monica. Gordon caught eight passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns and running back Derrick Davis had 87 yards.