Gardena High’s football season has been miserable this year.
At Gardena last Friday, Panther fans were able to only enjoy the halftime festivities because they did not see very much from their team against Marine League and CIF-Los Angeles City Section power Carson. From start to finish, the Colts completely outmatched the hapless Panthers, 64-0.
Throughout the first half, Carson, which improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league, scored almost every time it touched the ball.
Gardena High’s football season has been miserable this year.
At Gardena last Friday, Panther fans were able to only enjoy the halftime festivities because they did not see very much from their team against Marine League and CIF-Los Angeles City Section power Carson. From start to finish, the Colts completely outmatched the hapless Panthers, 64-0.
Throughout the first half, Carson, which improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league, scored almost every time it touched the ball.
The Colts totaled nine touchdowns, five of those by Jabari Minix who had a pair of scoring punt returns from 34 and 73 yards, along with two 10-yard runs and a 65-yard pass from quarterback Kiki Flores from 65 yards on the first play of the second half that gave them a 51-0 lead.
Flores threw for three TD’s that included 55 to Brandon Hasson, 22 to Silus and 65 to Minix. He added a one-yard run.
Devonte King scored Carson’s final touchdown midway in the fourth quarter.
Gardena had minus-26 total net yards and just one first down in the game.
Things are not going to get any better for the Panthers (0-7, 0-2) as they visit one of the top teams in the City, Narbonne, Friday at 7 p.m. At Washington last Friday, the Gauchos demolished the Generals, 50-0, as they scored all of their points in the first half before clearing the bench.
The Colts will visit traditional rival Banning at the same time. This game might restore the old days of one of Southern California’s top prep football rivalries as the Pilots are improved despite their 28-14 loss at San Pedro last Friday.
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Prep Football Roundup
Serra gears for key Mission game at Alemany
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
After a bye, Serra returns to action for its third consecutive Mission League road game at Alemany High in Mission Hills Friday at 7 p.m.
The Indians, who were nationally ranked until their 47-20 home loss to Bishop Amat on Oct. 10, bounced back by edging host Loyola, 24-23, last Friday at Los Angeles Valley College.
Alemany (6-1 overall) is currently ranked ninth in the CIF-Southern Section PAC Five, while the Lancers, who are tied with the Indians at the top with 3-1 league marks, are sixth.
Serra (5-2, 2-1) finally comes home for the first time since its Mission opening 28-23 win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Sept. 26 when it hosts rival West Hills Chaminade, which was routed by host Bishop Amat 52-22 last Friday, on Halloween (Oct. 31) night.
Top ranked in the division is Bellflower St. John Bosco, followed by No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei and third rated Corona Centennial.
West pulls away from North: West Torrance High’s football team is ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Western Division but it faced a stiff test when it traveled to cross town rival North Torrance, rated seventh in the division, for a Pioneer League showdown last Friday.
The Saxons, behind highly touted junior all-around player Mique Juarez, kept pace with the Warriors when they were tied in the second and late third quarters, but had some critical turnovers enabling West to finally put the game away with 5:12 left in the game when Jackson Farrentinos completed a 64-yard, 12-play drive on a 4-yard touchdown run for a 49-35 win.
West (7-0, 2-0) took a 42-28 lead with 9:42 remaining in the game when quarterback Trevor Mallett completed a 30-yard scoring pass to Zac McGraw. The TD was set up by an interception from lineman Luis Aguiar at the North 31.
North, though, got close when quarterback Chris Kuaea hit Juarez on a 70-yard pass play that was followed by Kuaea’s 5-yard touchdown run, cutting the Warriors’ lead to 42-35.
Despite the loss, Kuaea completed 20 of 37 passes for 411 yards, three TD’s and two interceptions. Kuaea also rushed for 57 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries.
The Warriors continued to have an outstanding game from Brett Ojiyi who rushed for 122 yards and three TD’s, and caught three passes for 47 yards.
West comes home to face Compton Centennial (0-2 in league after a 36-28 loss to South Torrance last Friday) Friday at 7 p.m.
North continues its fierce Torrance rivalry as it hosts Torrance, a 37-14 winner over Leuzinger last Friday, at the same time.
South tops Centennial: Host South Torrance started out trailing 13-0 before coming back to top Centennial, 36-28, in Pioneer League football action last Friday.
The Spartans scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take the lead for good.
South was led by running back Vini Bjazevich who rushed for 169 yards, including a 54-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Gabe Zuniga ran for 89 yards on 12 carries and had a 23-yard touchdown pass to Bailey Bjazevich in the second period.
The Spartans (5-2, 1-1) host Leuzinger Friday at 7 p.m.
Torrance rolls over Leuzinger: Torrance High’s football team kept pace with cross town rival West Torrance with a 37-14 home win over Leuzinger last Friday.
The Tartars continued to have an outstanding game by Tyree Harris who totaled 200 yards and three touchdowns. Harris rushed for 167 yards and two TD’s and caught three passes for 98 yards and one score.
Andrew Irvine also ran for a touchdown.
Torrance visits North Friday at 7 p.m.
Narbonne overwhelms Washington: Narbonne High’s football team improved to 2-0 in the Marine League by blanking host Washington, 50-0, last Friday.
The Gauchos were led by Vincent Heard who had two interceptions, one of those where he went 75 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Roman Ale ran for two TD’s and passed for one.
Narbonne hosts Gardena Friday at 7 p.m.
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Sports Scoop
It’s too early to say good bye to Donovan
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
It can be hard and seemingly too early to say farewell to soccer legend Landon Donovan, who played his final regular season home game for the Los Angeles Galaxy in its 2-2 tie against the highly regarded Seattle Sounders FC last Sunday at the StubHub Center.
He’s only 32 years old. Why so early?
Donovan says that he had other plans coming. There is certainty that he will stay on the soccer scene but in different ways.
Dating back to the late 1990’s when Donovan was still in high school, many observers knew he would become probably the greatest American soccer player ever and he did.
Donovan scored one of the Galaxy’s two goals as they grabbed a 2-0 halftime lead but the Sounders came back with a pair of second half goals for the tie and dimming L.A.’s hopes of pulling out the Western Division title that is still led by Seattle.
The Galaxy (17-6-10) need to win at Seattle to have home field advantage throughout the entire playoffs or the Sounders will have it.
Meanwhile, Donovan owns virtually every record that includes 145 goals and 136 assists. He led the Galaxy to the Major League Soccer Cup in 2005, 2011 and 2012, playing alongside British sensation David Beckham. He sparked the San Jose Earthquakes to championships in 2001 and 2003.
He was them MLS Most Valuable Player in 2009, All-Star Game MVP in 2001 and this year, as winning the Golden Boot in 2008 and the Silver Boot in 2010.
Donovan came up big in keying the United States World Cup Men’s team to the quarterfinals in 2002. He was left out this year that might be a clue for a cause of his decision to retire.
Donovan is not all the way finished. He will have, at least, one home encore in the playoffs, but hopefully several more as he attempts to key L.A. to the MLS crown in his grand finale.
Farmer sees action: Former Serra High standout George Farmer saw a little action with the University of Southern California football team.
He played a little but had on receptions in the Trojans’ 56-28 win over Colorado last Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
So far, this season, Farmer caught 13 passes for 103 yards and one touchdown. His average is 7.9 yards per catch and longest being 15 yards.
Some prep football unevenness: The CIF-Southern Section PAC Five Division has probably the highest competitive leagues in, not only Southern California nor California, but even the United States.
The Trinity League includes three teams, St. John Bosco, Mater Dei and Servite, that are nationally ranked and four teams rated in the division. The Marmonte, Mission and Big Eight are always tough.
The Moore League, however, is more of a one-team league. That is Long Beach Poly.
On Oct. 3, the Jackrabbits ran all over host Compton, 99-9. Yes, that is right: 99-9.
In that game, the Tarbabes scored first before seeing Poly close out the first quarter with a 35-6 lead and led, 63-9, at halftime. The Jackrabbits added 21 points in the third period and 15 in the fourth. It is the most points scored by a team in the state since Bloomington, located in San Bernardino County, was the last team to break 100 in its 108-20 rout of Rubidoux, located just west of Riverside, in 2006.
In about the last 20 years, Poly lost only one league game; that was in 2009 to Lakewood. This year, the Jackrabbits are already dominating the league and are expected to do the rest of the way. They rolled over L.B. Jordan, 51-10, on Oct. 10 and Lakewood, 49-7, last Friday. The Lancers were expected to be Poly’s toughest competition.
Take out Poly, the Moore would definitely not be in the PAC Five or even the Southern Section’s second toughest division, the West Valley, led by No. 1 Upland, No. 2 Mission Viejo and No. 3 Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro.
Outside of the Jackrabbits nearly every season, no other Moore team has ever made it past the first round.
Meanwhile, the state record for most points was 130 points and most of the games where an individual team scored 100-plus points occurred in the early 20th century, when the Southern Section had only one division with large, medium size and small enrollment schools, causing a lot of unevenness. Today, it is usually because of the open enrollment with a lot of recruiting or most top athletes choosing only the top programs.
The national high school record is 256 set in Kansas in 1927.
