By Joe Snyder
El Camino College’s football team did not quite have the offense it had in its 70-7 blowout win over host Los Angeles Harbor College on Sept. 21 but it was the Warrior defense that stifled Orange Coast College 21-3 in a non-conference game Saturday at Murdock Stadium.
The Warriors held the Pirates to just a field goal, and that was aided by a pair of defensive penalties. Orange Coast mustered just 198 total offensive yards to ECC’s 258. The Pirates had only 26 yards rushing.
El Camino scored its first touchdown with 1:17 left in the first quarter on a 23-yard pass from quarterback Jerman Gotoy to wide receiver Cory Payne.
ECC continued to lead 7-0 at halftime before increasing it to 14-0 with 6:37 remaining in the third period on a 1-yard run from Keyshawn Dupree, his first of two TD’s.
The Pirates broke the shutout when Kieren Spradlin connected on a 40-yard field goal with 1:17 to go in the third quarter.
El Camino took advantage of an Orange Coast fumble at its own 28-yard line. The Warriors drove 28 yards in four plays, capped by Dupree’s 1-yard scoring run.
Overall, the Warriors offense was not too impressive but it was enough to get the job done. They had 164 yards passing and 94 rushing. ECC used two quarterbacks in Gotoy and Jake Novello. Novello completed seven of 14 passes for 80 yards. Gotoy was 8-for-13 for 74 yards and one touchdown. Payne had three catches for 56 yards and one TD.
Justin Sanchez led ECC’s offense with 10 tackles, including one quarterback sack. Justin Martz also had 10 tackles, including two sacks.
The Warriors visit Moorpark College Saturday at 6 p.m.
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Gardena Football
Inglewood explodes for 55 unanswered points to overwhelm Gardena
By Joe Snyder
For the first part of last Friday’s non-league showdown game between Gardena and host Inglewood, things were looking promising for the Panthers.
Gardena took a 14-13 lead early in the second quarter on a short 1-yard run by Da John Little. From there, it was all downhill for the Panthers.
The Sentinels, who improved to 5-0, finished out the game with a 55-0 run for a 68-14 blowout victory over the Panthers, who fell to 5-1. All of Inglewood’s five wins were routs.
The first 15 minutes of the contest was a see-saw battle. Inglewood took a 6-0 lead but Gardena bounced back for a 7-6 advantage when Andre Lawson returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.
The Sents scored again but Little’s 1-yard scoring run gave the Panthers their last lead.
Inglewood, then, completely dominated Gardena, behind senior quarterback Jared Heywood, a transfer from Los Angeles Cathedral High. Heywood completed 13 of 16 passes for 305 yards and six touchdowns.
The Sentinels scored their first 28 unanswered points in the remainder of the second period. The onslaught began when Heywood completed a slant route pass to Timothy Williams and he went the rest of the way for a 62-yard TD. On Inglewood’s next drive, he tossed a 28-yard score to Montana Craig giving Inglewood a 27-14 lead.
Then, Gardena got sloppy by fumbling on back-to-back kickoffs and the Sents cashed in on those as Heywood threw touchdown passes to Craig of 18 yards and Orion Peters for 52 yards as Inglewood built a 41-14 halftime bulge.
In the second half, Inglewood continued its work as Heywood successfully threw a 74-yard TD pass to Peters. The Sentinels added three more scores to complete their fifth straight blowout victory.
“We just fell apart,” Gardena head coach Jim McElroy, Jr. said. “We fumbled on consecutive kickoffs.”
Making things more miserable for the Panthers is the ejection of Little due to two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Little will be ineligible to play in Friday’s Marine League opener against Banning.
Gardena mustered just 137 total offensive yards, including 82 rushing by Little. In the second half, the Panthers had only 11 total yards and just one first down on offense.
Things will not get much easier as Gardena will enter the brutal Marine League at home against Banning Friday at 7 p.m.
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Serra Football
Serra holds off Cathedral
By Joe Snyder
Serra High’s football team finished its non-league schedule by hanging on to top host Cathedral High 13-7 last Friday in Los Angeles.
Behind quarterbacks Doug Brumfield and Maalik Murphy, along with wide receiver Elijah Davis, the Cavaliers took a 13-0 after three quarters.
Serra’s first touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from Brumfield to Davis for a 6-0 first period lead.
In a very good defensive battle, the score remained the same before sophomore backup quarterback Murphy completed a 12-yard TD pass to Davis and the Cavaliers led by 13 points.
The Phantoms scored in the fourth quarter but the Cavaliers’ defense was able to shut them down.
Serra begins the Mission League in L.A. against Loyola High Friday at 7 p.m. The Cubs are coming off a 37-21 loss to Vista Murrieta last Friday.
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Prep Football Roundup
Narbonne shuts down Lawndale
By Joe Snyder
Narbonne High’s football team used a stingy defense to shut out host Lawndale 28-0 in both teams’ non-league finale last Friday.
The Gauchos had eight quarterback sacks and held the Cardinals to just 51 total offensive yards.
Jordan Banks sparked the Gauchos with two sacks. Alonso Person, Sayeed Shah, Tariq Al-Uqdah, Aaron Dickerson and Jordan Berry also recorded sacks.
Jared Greenfield and Person each had one interception and Person recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Junior quarterback Jake Garcia continued to stand out. He began Narbonne’s scoring by throwing a 15-yard TD pass to Elijah Queen to give the Gauchos a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Garcia showed he could run the ball as he added an 11-yard keeper for a score as Narbonne led 13-0 early in the second period.
Narbonne upped its lead to 20-0 in the third quarter on Person’s fumble recovery.
The Gauchos completed their scoring on Garcia’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Traeshon Holden, then he connected with Queen for a two-point conversion.
Narbonne, which improved to 4-1, begins the Marine League at San Pedro Friday at 7 p.m. The Pirates are coming off a 49-13 home rout of Reseda Cleveland last Friday.
Torrance falls to 0-5: Despite a season-high 14 points, Torrance High’s football team fell to host Playa del Rey St. Bernard 33-14 in non-league play Saturday at El Segundo High.
The Tartars (0-5) scored both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Torrance will host North Torrance in their first Pioneer League game Friday at 7 p.m.
The Saxons, who are 4-1, had a bye last week.
South falls to El Segundo: South Torrance High’s football team did not muster much offense in a 23-3 loss to host El Segundo last Friday.
The Spartans begin the Pioneer League with a rigid game at Inglewood Friday at 7 p.m. The Sentinels finished non-league at 5-0 after crushing Gardena 68-14 last Friday at Inglewood’s Coleman Stadium.
West is still winless: West Torrance High’s football team fell to 0-5 with a 33-12 home loss to Redondo last Friday.
The Warriors stayed close to the Sea Hawks, trailing 13-12 when Xerxes Reamer returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown but Redondo, behind senior quarterback Daniel Webb, pulled away by finishing the game with a 20-0 run.
Webb rushed for three TD’s, and threw for two more for the Sea Hawks, who are 3-2 entering their Bay League opener at Centennial High in Compton on Friday.
West might have a good shot at its first win as it hosts Morningside from Inglewood in their Pioneer League opener Friday at 7 p.m. Last Friday, the Monarchs (1-4) recorded their first win at 18-14 over Los Angeles High.
Carson is 0-5: It’s hard to believe that the once powerful Carson High football program finished its non-league schedule at 0-5 after being shut out at home by Adelanto 21-0 last Friday.
The Colts have a bye week before hosting a 5-1 Gardena team on Oct. 11.
