By Joe Snyder
Last Friday’s season prep football opener between Serra and Palos Verdes was a match-up with two teams with very high hopes at championships at El Camino College.
The squads were in a hotly contested battle throughout the game, especially late in the fourth quarter. After the Cavaliers tied the game at 14 when running back A.J. McBean scored on a 3-yard run, the Sea Kings, led by preseason all-American quarterback Ryan Rakawski, quickly drove down the field. Aided by a pair of defensive penalties by Serra, Palos Verdes drove to the Cavalier 4-yard line where Niko Dragin connected on a 22-yard field goal. Sea Kings avenged last year’s 26-0 loss to Serra with a 17-14 victory.
Palos Verdes took just 36 seconds into the game to take a 7-0 lead on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Rakawski to wide receiver Jackson Reese.
The Cavaliers tied the game at seven on McBean’s first of two TDs from three yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, Jalen Flowers, who is also a 10.5 100-meters sprinter on the Sea Kings’ track and field team, proved his speed by racing the return 90 yards to give P.V. a 14-7 lead with 8:31 left before halftime.
The score remained the same until McBean’s second touchdown in a drive that was aided by three defensive penalties on the Sea Kings. In fact, defensive penalties plagued both teams down the stretch.
The contest at ECC was a Palos Verdes home game since Serra hosted the game last season.
For the first time in two seasons, Serra will finally return to its own stadium to host CIF-Los Angeles City Section school Hamilton High Friday at 7 p.m. In March 2025, part of Serra’s stadium was destroyed by an electrical fire. It also damaged the locker rooms under it. The Cavaliers had to play their home games at either El Camino or L.A. Southwest College.
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Hawthorne rallies to topple GHS by a TD
Last Friday, Gardena High’s football team traveled to Hawthorne High, which had a rarity but could be a thing of the future; a female head coach.
The Cougars, who have been struggling the past several seasons, picked up recent pro women’s football star Jazmine Gamble, who played for the Women’s National Football Conference Los Angeles Legends. They were seeking to get things going their way and, immediately, give Gamble her first coaching win.
After a see-saw battle throughout, and included a brief power outage, it was Hawthorne that pulled out the game on a winning 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Anthony Green with 37 seconds left in the game for a 26-20 victory.
The mostly young and inexperienced Panthers got things started well as Kevin McKinney returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown for a quick 6-0 lead.
Gardena starting quarterback Omar Figueroa struggled some as, later in the first quarter, threw an interception to Cougar defensive back Daniel Green and he returned the ball 45 yards for the game-tying TD.
Early in the second period, Deshawn Cleveland gave Hawthorne a 12-6 lead on a 45-yard scoring pass by Green.
Shortly before halftime, McKinney scored his second touchdown on a 20-yard pass by Figueroa to knot the game at 12.
In the third quarter, Norell Parks gave Gardena the lead on a 12-yard TD run, that was followed by a two-point conversion that gave the Panthers a 20-12 advantage.
In the fourth period, a 25-yard scoring pass from Green to Adrian Acosta, followed by a two-point conversion run by Cleveland, tied the game for Hawthorne.
With 58 seconds remaining in the game, the lights briefly went out and when they went back on, it inspired the Cougars that, 21 seconds later, led to Green’s scoring keeper to win the game for Hawthorne.
“It was an exciting game,” Gardena head coach Terrence Williams said. “We came up short. That happened to us in some of the games. Gamble did a real good job coaching (Hawthorne). I wish her well with the team.”
The Panthers will play their second of five consecutive away games against South East High in South Gate Friday at 7 p.m. South East is coming off a 31-6 loss to Wilmington Banning last Friday at Banning. Last year at Gardena, the Panthers routed the Jaguars 50-0 that saw Figueroa threw a few touchdown passes. Gardena’s stadium has been demolished and being rebuilt, hoping that the facility will be ready next season. The Panthers are playing all of their home games at L.A. Harbor College in Wilmington. They play their first home game in a non-league game against Gahr High from Cerritos on Sept. 24.
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Torrance opens season with win over Mira Costa
Torrance High’s football returns a large majority of its top starters and the Tartars began their season with a challenge in usual Bay League power Mira Costa High from Manhattan Beach last Friday at Zamperini Field.
After two teams were tied at 14 at halftime, Torrance scored 27 second-half points and went on to defeat the Mustangs 41-28.
Up to the early fourth quarter, both teams played evenly as Mira Costa tied the game at 28 on Jordin Ferguson’s 14-yard touchdown run but the Tartars took the lead for good as quarterback Gibson Turner.threw an 11-yard TD pass to Isaac Mora giving Torrance a 35-28 lead. Later in the final period, Mora put the icing on the cake on a 4-yard touchdown run. Vaughn Reinart had a 15-yard scoring run in the second quarter and scored Torrance’s first touchdown on a 75-yard run on the first drive of the game.
Torrance will visit Redondo, which finished second in the Pioneer League behind the Tartars last year, but avenged its league loss by topping Torrance 21-14 in the CIF-Southern Section Division V opener and is now in the prestigious Bay League, Friday at 7 p.m. The Sea Hawks began their season by shutting out host El Segundo 37-0.
North Torrance lost its season opener to host Orange High 49-14 Friday at Fred Kelly Stadium.
The Saxons will visit Narbonne in Harbor City in their second game Friday at 7 p.m.
Defending CIF-L.A. City champion Carson began its season on a big note by downing host Lincoln High 35-17 Friday in San Diego. Lincoln is one of the top powers in the CIF-San Diego Section. The Colts visit Dorsey Friday at 7 p.m.
South Torrance, which moved down from the Pioneer to Ocean League, started on the right foot by defeating host John Burroughs High 45-29 Friday in Burbank.
