Carson Wins It by Myles, 43-26

As defenders and his offensive linemen skidded and flopped around him, Carson High running back Brandon Myles didn’t seem to have any problem with the wet Gardena High field. Myles was simply too fast to slip and fall.

The senior broke open a tight Marine League game Friday night with an electrifying second-half performance and finished with a career-high 256 yards and three touchdowns to give the Colts a rain-soaked 43-26 victory and a share of the Marine League championship.

Carson (7-2, 4-0) can clinch the title outright with a victory next week over Wilmington Banning.

Gardena (6-3, 3-1) saw its three-game winning streak end.

Myles helped charge the Colt running game with his breakaway speed. He opened the third quarter with a 40-yard run on the way to 216 yards in the second half.

“Boy, was Brandon amazing tonight,” Carson Coach John Aguirre said. “Everybody looks at [defensive lineman] Matthew Malele as our most valuable player, but I’d cast my vote for Brandon right now.”

Jonathan Johnson busted loose on the Colts’ next play for a 43-yard touchdown run and a 20-13 lead. Carson needed only one play on its next possession as Myles outran Gardena for a 56-yard scoring run to push the Colts’ lead to 14 points.

Myles, who carried just 13 times, finished with a 70-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring. His previous highest rushing total was a 233-yard effort this season against Los Alamitos.

“I tried to run with small steps,” he said. “The offensive line just made it too easy for me.”

Johnson added 110 yards in eight carries. Carson gained all of its 473 yards on the ground, 337 of it after halftime.

“We’re getting better each week,” Aguirre said. “We had a lot of penalties and we need to work on that. If we keep our composure, we’ll be fine.”

Gardena, looking to win its first Marine League title in 28 years, rallied from a 6-0 deficit with a 40-yard touchdown run by fullback Jason Franklin and a three-yard scoring run by DeAndre Hughes. Carson cut the lead to 13-12 when Kevin McCall scored on a three-yard run late in the second quarter.

-- Eric Stephens

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L.A. Dorsey 21, L.A. Fremont 12 -- Sophomore Jeremiah Johnson rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries in his second varsity start to lead the Dons, who scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter, to a Coliseum League upset over visiting Fremont.

“This is the biggest win of the season for us,” Johnson said of beating The Times’ No. 12-ranked team. “Coach [Paul Knox] said we had to lay it on the line to save the season, and we did that.”

Fremont (7-2, 2-2) scored first when Mark Bradford returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, but missed the extra-point try. The Dons (4-5, 3-1) tied it a minute into the second quarter on Johnson’s 24-yard scoring run, but missed the conversion kick.

Fremont led, 12-6, at halftime after a six-yard run by Melvon James with 10:43 left in the second quarter and a failed two-point conversion. James finished with 70 yards in seven carries.

Dorsey, which hosts Crenshaw (6-3, 4-0) next Friday, scored in the third quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Donald Prince to Jerome Johnson and on an 18-yard run by Jody Rucks, who finished with 58 yards in 10 carries.

-- Rafer Weigel