Birmingham wins rematch with Garfield

Junior running back Trajuan Briggs rushed for 120 of his 184 yards in the second half, and Lake Balboa Birmingham High’s defense came up with five interceptions to propel the ninth-seeded Patriots to a 27-15 victory over eighth-seeded Los Angeles Garfield on Thursday night in a first-round game of the City Section Championship Division playoffs.

Birmingham (6-5) scored on the first play of the game when De’Von Flournoy took a shovel pass and went 64 yards for a touchdown. But Flournoy went out because of a shoulder injury in the second quarter, and the Patriots didn’t score the rest of the half.

Birmingham will play top-seeded Harbor City Narbonne in a quarterfinal Wednesday.

Garfield (6-5) took a 9-6 halftime lead on field goals of 32, 41 and 37 yards by Sergio Macedo.

Briggs scored twice in the third quarter on runs of six and 24 yards. Birmingham got second-half interceptions from B’Jon Wilson, Tashawn White, Kenny Pool and Sergio Perez, who returned his 72 yards for a touchdown.

The Patriots attempted only one pass in the second half after injuries knocked out their two starting receivers. But it was perfect timing for Briggs, who overpowered the Bulldogs and helped Birmingham avenge a 29-28 loss to Garfield in September.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Crenshaw routs Banning

Geno Hall scored touchdowns on kickoff returns of 93 and 89 yards to lead fourth-seeded L.A. Crenshaw to a 42-6 victory over 13th-seeded and visiting Wilmington Banning.

Wide receiver Noel Grigsby caught six passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars (7-3), who will play host to fifth-seeded L.A. Jordan in a quarterfinal.

Pilots quarterback Mason Napoleon completed eight of 19 passes for 103 yards with an interception and ran for a touchdown. Running back Josh Limosnero had 106 yards in 27 carries for Banning (4-7).

-- Mark Medina

Two-minute drill

Quarterback Josh Moten ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third to lead top-seeded Narbonne (10-1) to a 28-9 victory over 16th-seeded and visiting L.A. Washington (5-6). . . . Senior quarterback Barry Heads completed five of 11 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown to lead second-seeded San Pedro (10-1) to a 34-3 victory over visiting and 15th-seeded Sylmar (7-4). . . . Running back D.J. Morgan scored two touchdowns and third-seeded Woodland Hills Taft (10-1) made a goal-line stand to hold on for a 16-8 victory over visiting and 14th-seeded L.A. Locke (5-5). The Toreadors tipped away a pass on the final play of the game. Taft will play host to San Fernando in a quarterfinal. . . . Daniel Lopez had 217 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries and Rashaad Reynolds passed for 120 yards and ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns to lead host and sixth-seeded San Fernando (8-3) to a 27-19 victory over 11th-seeded L.A. Dorsey (7-4). . . . Brandon Caldwell had a 103-yard interception return for a touchdown for fifth-seeded L.A. Jordan (7-4) during a 21-12 victory over 12th-seeded Fremont at South Gate High. Deshawn Beck and Robert Lewis scored touchdowns for the Bulldogs. . . . Gunner Wilson made an interception in the end zone on the final play of the game to preserve a 25-20 victory for seventh-seeded Venice (6-5) over 10th-seeded and visiting Carson (5-6). . . . Omar Sanchez ran for four touchdowns and caught a scoring pass for top-seeded Arleta (11-0) during a 42-7 victory over visiting South Gate South East (3-8) in a City Invitational Division first-round game.