Narbonne Avenges Marine Loss

Harbor City Narbonne thought it lost a game it should have won three weeks ago against Carson, costing it a chance at winning an outright Marine League championship.

With much more on the line Wednesday night in the City Section Championship division quarterfinals, the Gauchos avenged that defeat and dethroned a defending section champion in the process.

Marquis Delgado’s 59-yard touchdown reception broke a halftime tie and Narbonne shut out Carson in the second half to score a 31-14 victory at Carson, putting the Gauchos in the semifinals for the first time since 1997.

“This means we’ve got some great turkey dinner tomorrow, that’s for darn sure,” said Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas. “We know what it feels like to eat turkey after a double-overtime loss in the quarterfinals [to Sylmar] last year.”

Carson (7-5) won the first meeting, 23-14, but Narbonne never trailed Wednesday. Travon Titus rushed for a game-high 175 yards in 20 carries and scored two touchdowns, but it was Delgado’s score that turned the game.

The defense took over for Narbonne (10-2). Carson had to punt, missed a field goal, lost two fumbles and turned the ball over on downs on its last five possessions.

-- Eric Stephens

L.A. Crenshaw 47, Venice 17 -- John Thompson completed 13 of 18 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns as the Cougars (10-2) avenged a 56-0 loss from last year in a quarterfinal that turned sour during the fourth quarter at Venice.

Referees called seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and a personal foul in the fourth quarter. Five of those 15-yard penalties went against Crenshaw.

After the game, coaches from both teams confronted one another, with Venice coaches accusing Crenshaw of running up the score during the fourth quarter and Crenshaw coaches taunting the Venice sideline by dancing and pointing at the scoreboard.

Venice (9-3) was within 10 points at 27-17 after a 50-yard touchdown run by Kenny Ashley with 11:21 to play, but Thompson threw touchdown passes of 51, 45 and 55 yards in the final 10 minutes. The last one, a 55-yarder to Marquan Jackson, came with 2:51 remaining and got Venice upset.

Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett defended his late-game play calling, adding that in last year’s loss, Venice did the same. “Fifty-six to zero is a great motivating factor,” Garrett said. “They didn’t stop last year, so this was for the kids. They deserved to win this way.”

Ashley finished with 132 yards and two touchdowns in 19 carries for Venice, which had the ball at the one-yard line with time running out but couldn’t run a final play because referees refused to put the ball in play.

-- Peter Yoon

L.A. Dorsey 55, Sylmar 14 -- Jeremiah Johnson ran seven times for 121 yards and three touchdowns and caught a pass for another score to lead the top-seeded Dons (11-1) at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

C.J. Gable of Sylmar (9-3), who rushed for more than 300 yards last week against Eagle Rock, was stymied by the Dorsey defense, gaining 41 yards in the first half on nine carries and fumbling twice in the second half. He finished with 130 yards on 23 carries. He threw an option pass for a score in the first period and ran two yards for a late score.

Johnson scored on runs of six, five and 83 yards, and Stafon Johnson finished with 180 yards and scoring runs of 30 and five yards. Keith Charles completed all six of his passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

-- Mayar Zokaei