Big Plays Lead to a Crenshaw Victory

In the mud and rain, Crenshaw earned its first trip to the City Section championship game since 1999 by turning to two of its best athletes to pull out a 20-13 semifinal victory over Coliseum League rival Dorsey on Friday night at Crenshaw.

Darian Hagan Jr. made a leaping catch in the end zone with one second left in the second quarter to complete a 46-yard pass play that enabled Crenshaw to take an 8-7 halftime lead.

Then, after Dorsey had taken a 13-8 lead late in the third quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Franklin, John Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown for a 14-13 Crenshaw lead.

Dorsey (10-3) played the entire second half without All-City tailback Stafon Johnson, who suffered a possible broken ankle late in the second quarter. Also sidelined with an ankle injury was backup tailback Lavell Wallace. It left the Dons’ offense going nowhere.

But Crenshaw gave the Dons a gift. Raymond Carter fumbled on his own five-yard line and Keith Browner recovered the ball for Dorsey. That set up Franklin’s touchdown run. But Thompson broke the Dons’ heart, racing down the right sideline for the decisive touchdown and gaining revenge for last season when he was the quarterback in a semifinal loss to Dorsey.

“It’s amazing,” Thompson said. “It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s destiny.”

Ronnie Warren returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown, one of three Crenshaw interceptions on the night.

Second-seeded Crenshaw (10-3) will play top-seeded Woodland Hills Taft on Friday at the Coliseum. It will be a rematch of a season-opening game won by Taft, 35-34.

“We’ve been wanting this,” Hagan said. “We’re finally there.”

Eric Sondheimer

*

Taft 48, Sylmar 28 -- Sophomore Exavier Johnson passed for six touchdowns and ran for another as the top-seeded Toreadors advanced to their sixth championship game in nine years.

Johnson ran for a one-yard score with 6:13 remaining and connected with Jamere Holland for an 18-yard scoring pass on Taft’s next possession -- Holland’s third touchdown reception -- to give the Toreadors (13-0) their biggest lead of the game, 48-21, with 2:07 to play.

“I knew if I just got the ball to my receivers they’d do the rest,” said Johnson, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 217 yards. “The rain didn’t affect me at all. It felt good.”

Holland finished with five receptions for 80 yards.

Amid sporadic rain, Sylmar running back C.J. Gable was unable to gain any momentum for the fifth-seeded Spartans (12-1), gaining only 35 yards in the first half as Taft took a 27-14 halftime lead. The senior finished with 94 yards in 18 carries to surpass 2,000 yards rushing on the season. He scored two first-half touchdowns. Mark Alanis ran nine times for 152 yards and a touchdown to lead Sylmar.

-- Mayar Zokaei