Time is on Norco’s side in win over Crenshaw

The clock nearly struck midnight on Norco’s bid to defeat defending Los Angeles City Section champion Crenshaw.

Really.

The televised game started after 8:30 p.m. Friday because it followed the Dodgers’ 11-inning victory over Houston on Prime Ticket. It didn’t end until 11:22 p.m.

Time literally did run out on Crenshaw. A drive inside the Norco 20-yard line was thwarted when the final seconds ticked off the clock before Crenshaw could get off one last play, preserving host Norco’s 25-21 victory.

Norco’s Kelsey Young had rambled 37 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 5 minutes 24 seconds remaining, and that may have barely qualified as one of the Stanford-bound tailback’s top five plays of the game. He also scored on runs of 70 and 73 yards and had another long run in which he broke seven tackles.

“That one will be on TV for a long time,” Norco Coach Todd Gerhart said Saturday.

Young, who finished with 297 yards and three touchdowns, wasn’t satisfied with his performance because he dropped a pass and flubbed a pitch. So he returned to Norco on Saturday morning to work on catching, a ball machine firing him pass after pass.

“He’s a perfectionist,” Gerhart said.

Gerhart said the late start didn’t rattle his players nearly as much as the opportunity to play a regionally televised game.

“It was a difficult thing for the young kids,” said Gerhart, who used a trio of freshmen on offense, including his son Coltin, a quarterback. “Now that it’s in the books, it’s good for them. Nothing can be bigger except maybe the [Inland Division] finals.”

Norco (2-0) should be considered one of the front-runners to reach a championship game because of its bevy of playmakers and a stout defense that held Crenshaw tailback De’Anthony Thomas to 93 yards and two touchdowns.

Full travel schedule

How’s this for a busy weekend?

Gerhart will coach his son Coltin at 7 p.m. Friday when Norco plays Etiwanda at Ontario Colony High before racing to the Ontario Airport to catch a redeye flight to Atlanta.

He’ll then board an early morning flight to Madison, Wis., to watch his son Garth, starting center for Arizona State, play Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. CDT Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

But he won’t be done. Next comes a four-hour drive to Minneapolis to watch his son Toby, a running back for the Minnesota Vikings, play the Miami Dolphins at noon CDT Sunday at Mall of America Field.

“It will be crazy,” Gerhart said.

League of their own

It was fun while it lasted.

The nonleague portion of the schedule is already over for the teams in the Marmonte League, who open their nine-week league schedule this week.

The 10 teams went a combined 7-3 in nonleague games, with a few surprises — long-suffering Calabasas defeated Granada Hills and long-dominant Westlake Village Oaks Christian lost to Mission Hills Alemany.

Now comes the hard part: nine consecutive games against league foes. The top matchups this week are Thousand Oaks at Westlake Village Westlake on Thursday and Oaks Christian versus Ventura St. Bonaventure on Friday at Ventura High.

“It’s nine tough opponents, but we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Oaks Christian Coach Bill Redell said. “You have to survive and avoid injuries.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com