Birmingham Wins City Title

Not many people gave Lake Balboa Birmingham a chance in its rematch against Woodland Hills Taft in the City Section championship football game Friday night.

Taft was rarely challenged in its 13 victories and came in looking to erase the memory of last season’s heartbreaking loss to Dorsey in the title game.

But a season’s worth of single-minded focus became a night of embarrassment for the Toreadors, who had beaten the Patriots in a West Valley League game Nov. 15.

Birmingham showed why it is tough to beat a team twice as it dominated both sides of the ball in a shocking 35-7 victory before an estimated 6,000 at the Coliseum. It was the school’s first City football title since 1963.

UCLA-bound running back Dennis Keyes, who has tormented Taft in the past, rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown in 26 carries.

Most of all, the Patriots won the battle on defense, forcing three turnovers while not committing any on offense. Birmingham’s victory continued a trend in which the loser of the regular-season meeting has won the City title in four of the past five years.

All week Birmingham (11-3) insisted it was a better team than it showed in the first meeting. The Patriots showed it by opening the game with a picture perfect 80-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead.

Quarterback Ryan Lombardo completed a 32-yard pass to Brian Baylor on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Lombardo stayed hot on the drive as he hit Kyle McCleary and Chad Green for consecutive 11-yard gains.

On second down at the Taft 28-yard line, Baylor got around linebacker Wallace Bates along the right sideline and hauled in a touchdown pass from the senior transfer from Newbury Park. Lombardo completed all four passes for 82 yards.

The Patriots continued to put the pressure on as they forced two first-quarter turnovers. Green and Garrett Feig forced a fumble by quarterback Cary Dove and Alex Martinez recovered at the Birmingham 25-yard line.

Baylor capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 14-yard scoring run as he got a big block from offensive tackle Phillip Cerda.

Another break came when Dove and tailback Ian Bell mishandled an exchange in the backfield and Birmingham’s Deshon Brookins recovered at the Taft 37.

The Patriots then went to the ground with Keyes and the senior tailback gained 25 yards on five carries. Keyes went over left tackle for a one-yard touchdown run to give them a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

With Taft reeling, Birmingham went back to ground as its offensive line continued to dominate the battle up front. Using a two tight-end set put in this week, Baylor and Keyes traded off for positive yardage and picked up three of the Patriots’ 16 first downs in the half.

The only mistake came with 27 seconds left in the half. Dove began to get into a rhythm and he found Noah Smith on an out pattern. Keyes went for the ball but lost Smith and the senior receiver weaved his way into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.

It was the only sign of life for Taft, which hadn’t trailed by more than eight points this season. Late in the third quarter, the Toreadors moved the ball down to the Patriot five-yard line but couldn’t score on four downs as Steve Smith dropped a second-down pass and Keyes had two pass deflections.