Cougars rally to win City title

The two powerhouses in the City Section, Crenshaw and Narbonne, engaged in a defensive duel Friday night in the Division I championship game that featured one of the strangest occurrences -- three safeties on bad punt snaps.

Two-time defending champion Narbonne couldn’t overcome its special teams blunders and was beaten by the Cougars, 20-13, at East Los Angeles College.

Crenshaw (10-4), in winning its fourth Division I title for Coach Robert Garrett, took the lead for good at 18-13 with 10:24 left on a one-yard touchdown run by Corey Walker. The Cougars added a third safety when the ball was hiked over the head of punter Larry Seuga and went through the end zone for a 20-13 advantage.

The star of this game for the Cougars was receiver Michael Simmons, who repeatedly made acrobatic catches to bail out his team. He had seven catches for 99 yards.

“It was probably the most important game of my high school career,” Simmons said. “I wanted this. Coming in here last year and losing, 25-0, was a heartbreaker.”

Narbonne had two roughing-the-kicker penalties and a missed extra point.

“They made plays and we did everything in our power not to win this thing,” said Coach Manuel Douglas.

Narbonne (11-3) opened a 13-0 lead on a Seuga one-yard touchdown run and a 39-yard touchdown reception by D.J. Young.

Crenshaw didn’t get onto the scoreboard until there was 3:36 left in the second quarter. A high punt snap sailed over the head of Seuga and he kicked the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

Simmons rose up at the end of the half to save the Cougars. He had a 19-yard reception for a first down and a 26-yard reception to the one-yard line in which he tiptoed his way to stay inbounds. That set up a touchdown run by Marcus Walton to pull the Cougars within 13-9 at halftime. Simmons also had an interception.

San Fernando wins City Division II title

San Fernando came away with a 14-0 season and a second consecutive City Section Division II championship Friday night by rallying for 34-32 victory over South Gate at East Los Angeles College.

South Gate (9-5) was in position to pull off the upset, holding a four-point lead and driving for a possible clinching touchdown, but a botched handoff with 3:46 left gave San Fernando the ball on its own 14.

Quarterback Cristian Solano put together an 86-yard, six-play drive, with freshman Alex Gonzalez scoring on a seven-yard run with 2:02 left for the victory.

“They didn’t give up on me like I didn’t give up on them,” Solano said of the Tigers, who gave up 18 consecutive second-half points after leading, 28-14, at halftime.

Solano completed 18 of 26 passes for 284 yards and one touchdown and ran for another. Charles Bell had an 80-yard kickoff return for a score and an 18-yard touchdown catch. Lavell Thompson of South Gate rushed for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Raul Lara resigns

Raul Lara, who guided Long Beach Poly to five Southern Section championships and 12 Moore League titles in 13 seasons, has resigned as coach.

“He’s tired,” said Principal Joe Carlson. “He’s had a great run.”

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com