Dorsey Hangs On to Ball, Victory Over Crenshaw

There isn’t much that separates Coliseum League rivals Crenshaw and Dorsey. In another tight game between the league title contenders Friday, turnovers determined the outcome.

Dorsey used an effective passing game to take an 18-point halftime lead and held off a furious comeback for a 24-20 victory over mistake-prone Crenshaw in front of a near-capacity crowd at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The Dons (7-1 overall, 3-0 in league), ranked No. 12 in the Southland by The Times, forced four turnovers and didn’t commit any. David Gettis intercepted a pass at the Dorsey 25-yard line with 50.6 seconds left to hold off the charging Cougars.

No. 16 Crenshaw (6-2, 2-1) got 125 yards from tailback Rickie Collins and 73 from fullback R.J. Garrett, but it botched the opening kickoff, lost two fumbles and two of quarterback John Thompson’s passes were intercepted.

“We came through when we needed to and that’s all that matters,” Gettis said.

Crenshaw dug itself a hole when it failed to secure the opening kickoff and Dorsey’s Lee Sprewell recovered. On the first play, Gettis got behind safety Darian Hagan and hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Keith Charles.

The Cougars lost a fumble on their next possession and Dorsey took advantage; Jeremiah Johnson scored on a 16-yard run to push the lead to 12-0.

Charles, who was seven of 14 for 142 yards, connected with Sydney Avery on an 11-yard scoring play, and Johnson (13 carries, 115 yards) got his second score on a 38-yard run after the Cougars’ Tyquan Knox fumbled away the kickoff.

Crenshaw dominated the second half. Garrett scored on a four-yard run in the third quarter and added a two-point conversion, and Knox cut the lead to four with 4:34 left on a 15-yard reception from Thompson.

“We were wearing them down as the game went on,” Collins said. “We tried hard, but we just couldn’t do it.”

Eric Stephens

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Colton 31, Rialto Eisenhower 20 -- In 1989, the last time Colton was in the Citrus Belt League, the Yellowjackets didn’t win a game. On Friday, they clinched a share of the league title and improved to 7-1, 5-0.

Colton committed 19 penalties, not including three on extra-point attempts, for 162 yards. The Yellowjackets also lost three of four fumbles. Still, they moved the ball when they needed to and were more physical on defense than host Eisenhower (4-4, 3-2).

Allen Bradford rushed 26 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Shareece Wright rushed 17 times for 171 yards and one touchdown, a 63-yarder. Brad Sorensen completed five of nine passes for 69 yards, including a 14-yard scoring pass to Wright.

Colton, which had outgained Eisenhower, 217-26, by halftime, finished with a 365-167 advantage.

The bulk of Eisenhower’s yards came on two plays: Jahmel Rover’s 77-yard touchdown run to make it 14-6 with 8:59 left in the third quarter, and Jarrell Glass’ 36-yard scoring pass to Steven Sarmiento to make it 25-12 with 4:00 left.

The Eagles also scored on Glass’ three-yard run with 1:01 left. Eisenhower lost five of six fumbles and was penalized 15 times for 89 yards.

-- Martin Henderson