With a small and inexperienced football team that went 0-5 against a rigorous non-league schedule, Gardena High’s football team was in for worse things when it traveled to powerful Narbonne in their first Marine League game last Friday night.
Facing one of the top teams in California, the Panthers found it completely impossible to even play with the Gauchos. Things, though, got even worse as Gardena had a lot of problems handling the ball that made things easier for Narbonne. The Gauchos got things started quickly and embarrassed the Panthers 78-0.
With a small and inexperienced football team that went 0-5 against a rigorous non-league schedule, Gardena High’s football team was in for worse things when it traveled to powerful Narbonne in their first Marine League game last Friday night.
Facing one of the top teams in California, the Panthers found it completely impossible to even play with the Gauchos. Things, though, got even worse as Gardena had a lot of problems handling the ball that made things easier for Narbonne. The Gauchos got things started quickly and embarrassed the Panthers 78-0.
Narbonne, in fact, scored four of its 11 touchdowns on fumble recoveries, two of those in just a 55-second span late in the first period. It helped the Gauchos surge out leads of 43-0 after the first quarter and 56-0 at halftime. Even with the running time clock throughout the second half, Narbonne continued to pour it on the hapless Panthers for 22 more points and that even included some by the Gaucho reserves.
Narbonne, which improved to 6-0 overall, enjoyed its homecoming playing its entire team. Junior quarterback Jalen Chatman, just in the first half, passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Kameron Denmark rushed for 87 yards and two TD’s.
Gardena managed a few good plays that included a 75-yard kickoff return by Jalen Perkins to the Narbonne 10-yard line late in the second period. The Panthers, however, were unable to move the ball and a 29-yard field goal attempt failed.
Anthony Triplett ran for one of just three first downs by Gardena with a 19-yarder in the fourth quarter.
“I wasn’t worried about Narbonne,” Gardena head coach David Austin said. “We’re developing. Narbonne got its boat rolling. They played a heck of a game. We hope to get to their level (in the future).”
The Panthers continue their brutal league in their homecoming game against a 5-1 San Pedro team Friday at 7 p.m. The Pirates opened the Marine with a 40-0 home win over Washington last Friday.
Narbonne will take the road to Carson for a 7 p.m. Friday. Last Friday, the Colts lost their first game in 16 years to rival Banning 29-19 in Wilmington. The previous time the Pilots topped Carson was in the 2000 CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I championship at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
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Serra Football
Serra rolls over Notre Dame
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s football team raised its Mission League record to 3-0 and won its fourth consecutive game overall by routing Notre Dame High from Sherman Oaks 38-7 last Friday at Serra.
Senior quarterback Jalani Eason continued to key the Cavaliers. He completed 16 of 21 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 106 yards and one TD on 15 carries.
Serra got things started quickly, scoring on its first two possessions. On their first possession, the Cavaliers, who improved to 4-3 overall, drove 89 yards on 15 plays that was capped by Eason’s 5-yard keeper. On Serra’s second possession, it drove 86 yards on 11 plays. That was climaxed by a 31-yard scoring pass from Eason to Deion Malone.
Max Williams added a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Defensively, Serra held the Knights to just 201 yards total offense. Notre Dame’s only TD was a 60-yard pass from quarterback Erik Zimmerman to wide receiver Tyler Asenota. The Knights fell to 0-3 in league and 2-4 for the season.
Last Friday’s game with Notre Dame was the Cavaliers final home game of the regular season as they finish with three straight away games. The first of those is at Bishop Amat in La Puente Friday at 7 p.m. The Lancers defeated Crespi last Friday.
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West-North Football
West tops North by a football
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Last Friday’s Pioneer League started with a showdown between host North Torrance and West Torrance.
In the end, the Warriors were able to hold off the Saxons 14-10 on a key goal-line stand. It occurred with 2:33 left in the game when North running back Saeed Galloway appeared to score in what could have been the winning touchdown. On a fourth-down-and-goal, Galloway got his feet into the end zone but the problem was the football he was holding did not make it as the West defense held his upper body out.
After the Saxon defense held the Warriors on downs, North, again, attempted to rally. The Saxons, who fell to 3-3 overall, drove to the West 43-yard line with 1:17 remaining. North quarterback Glenn Searcy, however, threw four consecutive incomplete passes as West was able to open league with a win and improve to 4-2 overall.
North started off well with a 10-0 halftime lead but before West woke up with two touchdowns. After holding down the Saxons on their first possession, the Warriors received the ball at their own 35-yard line. They drove 65 yards on 10 plays that was capped by an 18-yard run from senior quarterback Drake Peabody. The score was set up a 17-yard run from E.J. Hatter.
West, then, held down North before starting its drive for the go-ahead touchdown. It started when Peabody found Shige Kato for a 46-yard pass completion putting the ball on the Saxon 3-yard line. Peabody brought in the ball from there to give the Warriors a 14-10 lead.
West was able to hold down some threatening North drives.
The Saxons dominated the first half and grabbed a 10-point lead on Searcy’s 3-yard scoring run. It was set up by Searcy’s 29-yard pass to Sebastian Mataele and a 16-yard run from Galloway.
Defensively, North held the Warriors to just 94 yards total offense. West also failed to convert on two fourth down plays.
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Prep Football Roundup
Banning ends 16-year drought with Carson
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
When Banning High’s football team entered its home field against rival Carson in their Marine League opening showdown last Friday, it was determined to win its first game over the Colts in the past 16 years.
The previous time the Pilots defeated Carson was a 26-10 upset for the CIF-Los Angeles City Section championship (now Division I) crown in 2000 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. From there, the Colts dominated Banning until last Friday. The Pilots were finally able to get on the winning side by topping Carson 29-19 to improve their unbeaten mark to 6-0, while the Colts fell to 3-3.
Banning got thing started well on its first possession. It drove 56 yards on seven plays capped by an 8-yard touchdown run from running back Joe Villareal. Villareal rushed for 138 yards and one TD on 18 carries.
The Colts’ first possession was not successful as a pass from sophomore quarterback Jaja Bellinger was intercepted by Sulton Moala that gave the Pilots good field position at their own 49-yard line. Banning struck quickly as quarterback Myles Porter connected with wide receiver Daniel Hernandez for a 45-yard pass. Two plays later, Jimmy Langford-Maaele scored on a 4-yard run. The Pilots added a two-point conversion for a 15-0 lead.
Porter completed 10 of 19 passes for 180 yards and two TD’s and ran for 69 more.
Carson got within eight points when Bellinger found sophomore wide receiver Brian Keskey for a 49-yard TD pass but, each time, Banning would answer. It took a 22-7 lead shortly before halftime on a 20-yard scoring pass to Fernando Corona.
The Colts cut the Pilots’ lead to 22-13 with 9:43 left in the third period when Bellinger threw his second touchdown pass to Keskey from 32 yards out but Banning pushed the lead to 29-13 early in the fourth quarter when Langford-Maaele scored on a 5-yard run.
Bellinger scored Carson’s final TD on a 2-yard run late in the fourth period. Bellinger completed 10 of 19 passes for 215 yards while Keskeys had 188 of those yards on eight catches.
Things won’t get any easier for the Colts as they host City power Narbonne, which won four of its past CIF-L.A. City Section championships including taking the California State Division IA crown last season, Friday at 7 p.m. Normally for Carson, it has been a big rivalry with the Gauchos but with a young and rebuilding team, it appears to be more difficult for any hopes for the Colts to compete against the powerful Gauchos, who started league by humiliating a hapless Gardena team 78-0 last Friday at Narbonne and already has wins over key CIF-Southern Section Division I teams Serra and Long Beach Poly, along with Bay League power Palos Verdes.
Bishop Montgomery shuts out Verbum Dei: Bishop Montgomery High’s football team started the South Catholic League at home by shutting out Verbum Dei 24-0 last Friday.
The Knights, who improved to 4-2 overall, were led by Edward Lane who ran for 110 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries. Quarterback Daniel Schubert passed for a TD.
Bishop Montgomery continues league against St. Anthony High at Clark Field in Long Beach Friday at 7 p.m.
Torrance gets first win; South gets routed: Torrance High’s football team opened the Pioneer League with its first overall victory over Centennial High 28-6 last Friday in Compton.
The Tartars will seek to improve to 2-0 in Pioneer action as they host struggling cross town rival South Torrance Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans fell to 1-5 overall with a league opening 56-7 home loss to Leuzinger last Friday. It is the third straight game that South allowed more than 50 points after non-league road losses of 53-3 to Santa Monica and 52-7 to El Segundo.
