Narbonne breaks through for City Section by winning state title in football

When Manuel Douglas started coaching Harbor City Narbonne 14 years ago, he was running the wing T offense. Then he became a proponent of the spread offense, passing and running. And it was that offensive balance that propelled the Gauchos to become the first Los Angeles Unified School District team since Manual Arts in 1917 to win a state football title.

The Gauchos defeated Concord Clayton Valley, 28-14, on Saturday afternoon at Sacramento State in the CIF state championship Division 1-A bowl game. Sean Riley rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns and Kameron Denmark broke off a 43-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Roman Ale had a touchdown run and completed seven of 11 passes for 117 yards.

“It’s so great,” junior safety Justin Prince said. “I’m so emotional. I don’t know what to say.”

Douglas has made Narbonne (14-2) the top program in the City Section, but this victory takes the Gauchos another step. In 2012, Narbonne lost to Corona Centennial in a regional bowl game at the highest level. This game enabled the Gauchos to put the finishing touch on a season that came very close to zero losses. Narbonne’s only losses were by a total of four points to Long Beach Poly and Gardena Serra.

“This is the pinnacle,” Douglas said. “We’ve been one of the top teams in the City for a while. We always talked about taking the next step.”

Narbonne’s defense was able to withstand the physical ground attack of Clayton Valley (13-2), which kept going for it on fourth down. Clayton Valley succeeded only four out of nine times.

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Gauchos celebrate 28-14 win over Clayton Valley

Linebacker Raymond Scott, only a sophomore, was a tackling machine for the Gauchos. And the offensive line, led by UCLA-bound Alex Akingbulu, created opportunities for Ale and the running backs.

“It’s special as a sophomore playing with these tremendous players,” Scott said.

Ray Jackson rushed for 139 yards and Jake Peralta had 123 yards for Clayton Valley, which had a 20-play, 72-yard drive in the second half that consumed more than seven minutes but failed to score.

San Marino falls

Modesto Central Catholic (16-0) won its fourth consecutive bowl championship with a 56-21 victory over San Marino in the Open Division small-school game.

Fresno State-bound running back Justin Rice had 216 yards in 19 carries and scored two touchdowns. Junior cornerback Da-Ron Bland returned two interceptions for touchdowns during a 28-point third-quarter onslaught.

San Marino (15-1) played without quarterback Carson Glazier (47 touchdown passes). He suffered a concussion Dec. 12. Mark Wicke passed for 199 yards and one touchdown.