Jackson, Centennial Stun No. 2 Eagles

Height doesn’t win football games.

Terrell Jackson does.

Jackson, a sophomore running back for Corona Centennial, rushed for 203 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lift the visiting Huskies to a 27-23 upset of Rialto Eisenhower on Friday.

Eisenhower, ranked No. 2 in The Times’ top 25 and No. 8 in one national publication, couldn’t stop Jackson. He also caught a one-yard touchdown pass for Centennial, the defending Division V champion, which wasn’t even ranked among the top 10 in the Southern Section’s preseason poll.

That will change.

Jackson and quarterback Cory Campbell were both making their debuts as starters for Centennial. Campbell, a senior, completed 10 of 19 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns--to Jackson and Bryan Williamson, a nine-yarder.

Jackson scored with 5:06 left to give Centennial a 27-23 lead. The Huskies went for two points, but Campbell’s pass failed.

Eisenhower’s last chance came with 2:36 remaining and beginning at its 21 yard-line, but the Eagles got only as far as the Centennial 35.

Eisenhower, which opened a 14-0 lead, led 23-21 with 8:23 left in the game. Idris Moss completed a 25-yard scoring pass to Damian Huff, but the Eagles’ coach, Tom Hoak, in his 19th and final season, elected to fake the extra-point kick and the subsequent pass was intercepted.

Moss completed 19 of 31 for 224 yards and one touchdown.

Martin Henderson

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In other Friday games:

Huntington Beach Edison 30, Lake Forest El Toro 7--Running back Chuckie Linman rushed for 114 yards in eight carries during the Chargers’ victory at Westminster High.

Linman scored on a 70-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to give Edison a 14-0 lead. It was the first of three big plays for the Chargers.

After Tom Barger’s blocked punt late in the first half set up a short touchdown run by El Toro quarterback Tom Kirchmeyer, Edison scored one play later on a 69-yard touchdown pass play from Tommy Grady to Denny Flanagan and took a 21-7 lead into halftime.

Marcus McCutcheon scored on a 77-yard run on Edison’s first possession of the second half for a 27-7 lead.

Dan Arritt

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Crescenta Valley 24, Thousand Oaks 21--Falcon quarterback Hudson Gossard’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Shara Hartoonian with 1:29 left was the difference at Glendale High.

Gossard, a senior, threw for 333 yards, completing 28 of 35 passes. Receiver Dan Moody caught 13 passes for 143 yards.

Quarterback Ben Olson of Thousand Oaks completed 13 of 23 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown but had two passes intercepted.

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Verbum Dei 40, Compton Centennial 0--Junior cornerback Duran Cooley returned a second-quarter interception 45 yards for a touchdown in the Eagles’ (1-0) home victory.

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La Canada St. Francis 31, Arcadia 14--Joe Orlandini scored on a 55-yard run and quarterback Ricky Knauf ran for one touchdown and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Chris Miller for the Golden Knights at Arcadia.

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Bellflower St. John Bosco 30, Hawthorne 14--Quarterback Joe Souza completed eight of 18 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns for the Braves (1-0). Wide receiver Joe Cowan had four catches for 132 yards.

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Diamond Bar 3, Bonita 0--Kyle Edwards kicked a 42-yard field goal with three seconds to play to earn the victory for Diamond Bar.

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Alhambra 62, Glendale 13--Chris Grempel rushed for 179 yards, caught three passes for 70 yards and scored four touchdowns in the Moors’ rout at home. Grempel had two touchdowns rushing, one receiving and also returned an interception 38 yards for a score.

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Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 35, Lynwood 0--Quarterback Phil Beckmann scored three touchdowns and running back Jensen Wayne added two for the Knights at Lynwood.

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Encino Crespi 40, Bosco Tech 6--Crespi, 1-19 the past two seasons, broke a 16-game losing streak.