United Crenshaw Beats Taft

There were no name tags on the Crenshaw High football jerseys. Surprisingly, they all knew each other quite well.

Only two starters returned on each side of the ball for Crenshaw, but it didn’t matter Friday night in a 21-14 victory over Woodland Hills Taft in a nonleague City Section opener.

Corey Hudson scored on a 15-yard run with 5:45 remaining to put Crenshaw ahead by seven, and the Cougars (1-0) intercepted two passes in the final four minutes to preserve the victory at Taft.

“New kids, new situations ... we didn’t know what to expect,” Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said. “I love what I saw.”

Taft Coach Troy Starr, who reconsidered retirement during the offseason, couldn’t have felt the same way.

Taft scored on two big plays, but committed four turnovers. Steve Smith, one of the top juniors in the region, had nine catches for 93 yards for Taft. He also threw a 43-yard pass to Chris Catoe on a halfback option play to put Taft ahead, 14-13, with 8:25 left.

Crenshaw failed to score in the first half despite entering Taft territory on all five possessions.

“We’re a little rusty right now,” said Patrick Owens, who had two catches for 42 yards and also intercepted a pass at the Crenshaw two-yard line to end a Taft drive with 3:32 to play.

“We’re going to be a lot better at the end.”

Mike Bresnahan

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In other nonleague openers:

Dorsey 24, Sylmar 6--Jermaine Moore ran for 207 yards and scored all of Dorsey’s touchdowns at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Moore scored three times in the second half as Dorsey broke a 6-6 halftime tie.

After the Dons had a punt return for a touchdown called back because of a penalty, Moore broke loose off left tackle for a 75-yard touchdown and an 18-6 lead.

He added a 35-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Melvin Pettis added 101 yards for the Dons.

“I thought he was going to be a factor at some point,” Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said. “We were hoping to keep them off-balance with our two running backs. Melvin Pettis did a good job as well.”

Sylmar took a 6-0 lead when Daniel Burney raced 65 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play. But Dorsey’s defense was dominant from the second quarter on, limiting the Spartans to minus-16 yards in the final three periods and 101 overall.

“I thought we were great defensively,” Knox said. “We took their running game away and forced them to do other things.”

Eric Stephens

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Fairfax 38, Jordan 35--Derrick Hill gained 118 yards in 23 carries and two touchdowns in a victory at Fairfax.

Thomas Herringshaw had two touchdown passes for Fairfax.

Fremont 34, Hamilton 12--Milvon James rushed 18 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the Pathfinders’ victory. Senior quarterback Abe Escobar completed 16 of 24 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns.

Manual Arts 39, Van Nuys Grant 20--Arthur Giddens completed eight of 15 passes for 221 yards and rushed for 76 yards and one touchdown in eight carries for the Toilers at Grant.

Zach Owens rushed for 123 yards in 12 carries and James Finley returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown for Manuel Arts.

Woodland Hills El Camino Real 19, Jefferson 14--Will Savage connected with Jeremy Boyle on a 49-yard touchdown pass play with 38 seconds remaining to give El Camino Real a victory at Jefferson.

Los Angeles 12, Hollywood 0--Eric Martinez rushed for 102 yards in 20 carries and led the visiting Romans on defense with six tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception.