Compton Dominguez continues to take down Pac-5 opponents

Call them the Pac-5 pillagers.

The Compton Dominguez Dons continued their run of success against teams from the powerful Pac-5 Division on Friday, pulling out a 14-11 victory over host Encino Crespi.

The Dons, who play in a Western Division that is three notches below the Pac-5, have made a habit of beating their more powerful counterparts, recording at least one victory against a Pac-5 team in nine of the last 10 seasons. Included in that stretch were triumphs over storied Long Beach Poly in 2005 and Los Angeles Loyola in 2007.

“We play them all,” Dominguez Coach Willie Donerson said Saturday.

Donerson said he didn’t consider the victory over the Celts an upset because the Dons returned most of their starters from a team that last season reached the Western Division semifinals and Crespi was rebuilding under new Coach Jon Mack.

Nevertheless, it looked as though Dominguez could have used a remedial course in hanging on to the football. The Dons lost five fumbles — including three inside the Celts’ 20-yard line — with four of the turnovers committed by star running back Will Gregory.

“I thought he might have had some money on the game,” Donerson deadpanned.

The Dons also had to play the second half without quarterback Chris Brown, who was sidelined by back spasms at halftime. But Stanley Taylor rushed for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, giving Dominguez a good start in a stretch of five consecutive games against Pac-5 opponents that continues this week against La Puente Bishop Amat.

Lucky seven

Venice senior running back Teondray Caldwell put on such a prolific display during the Gondoliers’ 47-16 victory over North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake that his coach lost track of how many times he had reached the end zone.

“Every run, it was like your jaw drops,” Angelo Gasca said. “Wow, he might score.”

Caldwell tallied all seven of Venice’s touchdowns, scoring on runs of 80, 80, five, 10, five, two yards and one yard. He finished the game with 291 yards rushing in 33 carries and caught three passes for 58 yards.

Not bad for someone who had spent most of his sophomore year playing defense and his entire junior year as a receiver.

“It’s as good a performance as I’ve seen,” Gasca said, “especially for a guy in his first start at running back.”

Giving it away

L.A. Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett refused to blame his team’s 17-12 loss to host Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett on searing heat and humidity that caused several players to receive intravenous fluids and limited star running back De’Anthony Thomas to one second-half carry because of cramps and dehydration.

Three second-half turnovers were the Cougars’ undoing, Garrett said.

“That was more of the ballgame than the weather,” Garrett said. “One thing about football, you can’t worry about the condition of the field and the weather because both teams have to play under the same constraints.”

Thomas had 132 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the first half before the conditions took a toll.

And finally

In a game that might have felt as if it was played in Abu Dhabi instead of Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Indians weathered a game-time temperature of 108 degrees to emerge with a 35-20 victory over Palm Desert in a game dubbed the Mercury Bowl.

The Indians retained possession of the Mercury Bowl trophy, a 3-foot-tall steel thermometer constructed by Palm Springs Coach Steve Fabian and students at the school.

ben.bolch@latimes.com