White, Jefferson Rise to Occasion

Gary White caught a game-winning 35-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Clark with 35 seconds left, then intercepted a pass at the goal line with no time remaining as Jefferson upset Gardena, 26-21, in a nonleague game Friday afternoon at Jefferson.

White leaped between two defenders to make a juggling catch in the end zone for his fifth touchdown reception of the season. He caught three passes for 84 yards.

“The play was called 80 fade,” said White, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior who is being recruited by a number of colleges, including Michigan State, Fresno State and Kansas. “They came out showing man-to-man [coverage], but they snuck the safety over at the last second. I saw that the ball was thrown to the inside, so I had to go there. I had to tip the ball away from the first guy, then I grabbed it on the way down.”

Gardena (3-2) took a 21-20 lead with 1:45 remaining when quarterback LaFerrell Payne rolled left on a fake extra-point kick attempt and threw to Steve Phillips for a two-point conversion. That followed a 20-yard touchdown pass from Payne to De’Andre Hughes, who caught six passes for 75 yards and also rushed for 85 yards in 14 carries.

Payne completed 13 of 25 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns, including a 12-yard touchdown to Cedric Winton and a 37-yard strike to Fred Earles in the second quarter.

Travis Lee pulled the Democrats (3-2) within 13-7 on a 50-yard touchdown run with 5:06 left in the first half. Jefferson took a 14-13 lead on Ryan Clark’s four-yard quarterback keeper and Ricardo Camarena’s extra-point with 10:55 left, then increased the lead to 20-13 on Clark’s two-yard sneak with 4:23 left.

“No disrespect to anybody, but Gary White is one of the best receivers in the City,” said Doi Johnson, Jefferson’s first-year coach. “He deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as [Taft’s] Steve Smith. He’s that good.”

Steve Galluzzo

Los Alamitos 34, Carson 26--Brandon Tripp caught three touchdown passes and the Griffins turned three Colt turnovers into 21 points in securing the nonleague victory at Carson.

Tripp caught scoring passes of five and three yards from Justin Elway in the first half and grabbed a 13-yarder from Jeff Kline to give Los Alamitos (4-0-1), the Times’ No. 5-ranked team, a 27-14 lead. Kline added a one-yard touchdown run to build the lead to 20 points before Carson (3-2) fought back in the fourth quarter.

Tripp, a 6-foot-2 senior receiver, had five catches for 43 yards.

Brandon Myles, who had 233 yards rushing, scored on a 11-yard run to cut the lead to 34-20 with 10:11 remaining. The Colts appeared to have scored again on a long fumble return by Chester Tala but a clipping penalty nullified the touchdown.

Myles ripped off a 45-yard run to get Carson into Griffin territory and then finished the drive with an 18-yard scoring pass from Beau Davis with 3:52 left.

Los Alamitos kept its cool and got three first downs to clinch the victory.

Senior running back Ryan Bagley of Los Alamitos ran for a season-high 186 yards in 23 carries.

Eric Stephens

Woodland Hills Taft 55, San Fernando 34--Litrele Jones, filling in for injured running back Ian Bell, rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Toreadors (5-0) to a nonleague victory at Taft.

Quarterback Cary Dove connected with Steve Smith on an 18-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to extend the lead to 34-14.

San Fernando (2-3) scored 20 points in the next 6:30 and tied the score, 34-34, with 4:57 to play in the third quarter when Matthew Nevarez connected with Carlos Velasquez on a 35-yard touchdown pass play.

Jones scored on a 56-yard run on the ensuing possession and added touchdown runs of five and 48 yards to put the game out of reach.

Smith, who sat out two games with a sprained left ankle, caught seven passes for 122 yards, including touchdown receptions of 20 and 18 yards. Dove completed 19 of 29 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns.

Mayar Zokaei