City Section

Thursday, Nov. 20

CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS

First round

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Crenshaw 19, San Pedro 3
There may be teams with more skill and polish, but it might be hard to find any that are as big and physical as Los Angeles Crenshaw.

Might was right for the Cougars as they wore San Pedro down with its dominating defense and punishing running game at Crenshaw.

Crenshaw (9-2) will face Venice in the quarterfinals. The Cougars set up that premier matchup by limiting San Pedro to only 14 yards in the second half and sacking quarterback Dustin Garneau five times.

“For us to win championships, we need to play great defense,” said linebacker Solomon Elimimian. “We’ve very aggressive and we believe in our defense first. If our defense does the job, we win games.”

The effort allowed Crenshaw to rally from a three-point halftime deficit. The Cougars slowly began to impose their will on a Pirate team that had won four in a row.

Chinonso Anyanwu recovered a fumble by Grant Thorne at the San Pedro 35 in the third quarter. Crenshaw cashed it in on Rickie Collins’ 1-yard run for a 6-3 lead.

Aaron Huntley, who had 93 yards on 18 carries, scored on runs of two and five yards in the fourth to put the game away. Quarterback Anthony Moore shook off two first-half interceptions to have key gains of 20 and 13 yards on each scoring drive.

“I think our kids just needed to get back to playing our style of football,” Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said. “Our intent is to play football. We take what you give us.”

San Pedro (8-3) managed 90 total yards of offense, including minus-13 on the ground with the five sacks. Garneau completed 11 of 19 passes for 103 yards and an interception.
--Eric Stephens

Dorsey 43, Westchester 0
Jeremiah Johnson rushed for 137 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries and Stafon Johnson ran for 100 yards and four scores on 10 carries to lead host Dorsey (11-0).

Granada Hills 16, Bell 13
Brian Delgadillo rushed for 146 yards on 24 carries and Oscar Gonzalez completed eight of nine passes for 101 yards and one score for host Bell (6-4-1).

Grant 37, Fairfax 35
Anthony Dickson scored four touchdowns, but it was Craig Alexander’s 13-yard touchdown run with 3:36 to play that proved to be the game-winner at Grant.

Fairfax trailed, 17-0, at halftime and 24-7 in the third quarter before rallying behind sophomore quarterback Troy Jackson, who threw three touchdown passes.

Fairfax took a 28-24 lead with 9:25 left on a two-yard run by Jonathan Price.

Dickson put Grant (8-3) back on top, 31-28, with an eight-yard run.

Fairfax (5-5-1) was down, 37-28, with 1:30 left when Bryce Hill caught a three-yard touchdown pass. The Lions recovered the onside kick, but had four consecutive incomplete passes.
--Eric Sondheimer

Narbonne 27, Birmingham 20
Upsets take place when players follow their coach’s instructions to perfection, and that’s how 13th-seeded Harbor City Narbonne defeated defending City Champion Lake Balboa Birmingham.

The Gauchos (6-5) had only one turnover, passed just four times and used their size and athleticism to control the clock with a devastating rushing attack.

“We knew we could run,” Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas said.

Pat Smith led the way with 164 yards and three touchdowns in 18 carries. Narbonne gained 281 yards rushing while not completing a pass.

Lamont Long broke a 20-20 tie with an eight-yard touchdown run with 2:44 left. Fourth-seeded Birmingham (7-4) had the ball on Narbonne’s 18-yard line with four seconds left, but sophomore linebacker Major Culbert stripped the ball from quarterback Andrew Miramontes as time expired.

Miramontes struggled throughout. He had two passes intercepted, lost two fumbles and completed nine of 22 passes for 181 yards.

After a 13-13 halftime tie, Narbonne took the opening possession of the third quarter and drove 67 yards in six plays, with Smith scoring on a 16-yard run. Brian Baylor, who finished with 103 yards rushing, tied the score with a three-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Narbonne received critical interceptions from Kevin Garrett and Jeff Brown.
--Eric Sondheimer

Venice 63, Gardena 14
The top-seeded Gondoliers (11-0), ranked No. 10 in the Southland, found little resistance against Gardena (7-4) behind the play of Beau Davis, Byron Ellis and special teams that delivered three touchdowns and a safety.

James Lewis returned two punts for touchdowns of 50 and 70 yards, and James Armstrong returned a blocked punt 17 yards for another score to help pin a fourth consecutive loss on Gardena. The Gondoliers scored a season-high 63 points, 13 better than their previous total.

Venice scored 28 points in the first quarter and led at halftime, 49-14.

Davis completed seven of 15 passes for 165 yards and touchdowns to three different receivers. Lewis also passed for a touchdown, a 45-yarder to Gerold Rodriguez, on a double-pass play. Ellis gained 126 yards in 12 rushes to help set up the passing game.

Victor Zeledon and Jimmy Miller blocked punts for Venice, and Mesphin Forrester tackled the punter in the end zone for a safety.

“In every facet of the game, except point-afters, we were as good as we’ve been all year,” said Venice Coach Angelo Gasca. “We just caught fire, things started clicking, and we got a lot of points.”
--Martin Henderson

Carson 21, Taft 6
Sylmar 13, Jefferson 6

INVITATIONAL DIVISION

Fremont 24, Cleveland 6
Fremont improves to 6-3-1.

L.A. University 29, L.A. Wilson 20
Jason Robinson threw two touchdown passes to George Harris to lead host University (7-3-1).

Roosevelt 43, Banning 36
Chris Hurtado rushed for 277 yards and five touchdowns in 17 carries to lead the host and eighth-seeded Rough Riders (7-4) over ninth-seeded Banning (3-8).

El Camino Real 21, Palisades 13
Locke 21, North Hollywood 9
Canoga Park 20, Los Angeles 19
South Gate 28, Monroe 14
Franklin 48, Verdugo Hills 32

CITY SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PAIRINGS

Quarterfinals, Wednesday, Nov. 26, all games 7 p.m. unless noted

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Crenshaw (9-2) at Venice (11-0); Narbonne (6-5) at Sylmar (8-2-1); Grant (8-3) at Carson (8-3); Granada Hills (9-2) at Dorsey (11-0)

INVITATIONAL DIVISION

Roosevelt (7-4) at Fremont (7-3-1); South Gate (7-4) at El Camino Real (7-4); Locke (3-8) at L.A. University (7-3-1), 2 p.m.; Canoga Park (7-4) at Franklin (7-4).

Note: Semifinals, December 5; championships, December 12 at L.A. Memorial Coliseum.