Dorsey at Crenshaw on Thursday night! Narbonne at San Pedro on Friday night! Battling for league titles, top playoff seeds, and bragging rights. It’s going down!
Reginald Bell and Dorsey High School will face their rivals in Mossi Johnson and Crenshaw High School. Photos by Jason Lewis
Brent Speight and San Pedro will face off against rival Tray Boone and Narbonne. Photos by Ken Brooks and Jason Lewis
By Jason Lewis
Sentinel Sports Writer
[email protected]
The City Section of high school football is offering some big time match ups this Thursday and Friday night. It does not get any better when long time rivals square off for more than just bragging rights, but for league titles and top seeds in the playoffs.
The Coliseum League and the Marine League offer their best teams, and two of them may end up playing for the City title.
Dorsey and Crenshaw will collide for what is pretty much the yearly Coliseum League championship game.
This is not just a match up for the league title, or a potential No. 1 seed in the playoffs, but this is a match up of kids who grew up together. Many who attended the same middle school.
Players from both sides have come up playing Pop Warner football for the Baldwin Bruins, the Wilshire Huskies, and in the Snoop Dogg league. They have watched older siblings, family members, and neighbors play in this rivalry, and now it is their turn to earn their bragging rights.
Crenshaw has been able to walk away with those bragging rights after the past five meetings, which were all blowouts. Dorsey has not defeated Crenshaw since 2006, when they fought hard for a 6-2 victory on a mud soaked field.
Since then it has been all Crenshaw in the series, as they have dominated Dorsey, and won two City titles in the process.
Last year was supposed to be Dorsey’s year to finally break the streak, as they marched into their game against Crenshaw with a 9-0 record. Crenshaw had two early season losses and it seemed like they were going to be underdogs, but they totally dominated Dorsey, winning the game 53-12.
This year seems like last year. Dorsey has been one of the best teams in the City, posting a 7-1 record while knocking off some tough teams. Like last year, Crenshaw lost their first two games, and many have believed that they are not close to being the team that won the last two City titles.
Dorsey may look like the favorite in this game, but until a City team can knock off Crenshaw, they are flat out the team to beat. There is no way around that, because Crenshaw has not lost to a City opponent since 2008, and none of the games have been within 20 points.
After dropping their first two games, Crenshaw has found their rhythm, as they scored 60+ points in three consecutive games before blowing out Locke 40-0 this past week. They have gotten back to steamrolling teams.
Crenshaw has gotten it rolling again, but they may have some issues against Dorsey’s defense, which has carried them for the most part this season.
The winner of this game can set themselves up for a No. 1 seed, and at worst a No. 2 seed. Either seed means home field advantage until the championship game.
The other two teams vying for one of the top two seeds are San Pedro and Narbonne, who will go at it on Friday night.
Nobody knew exactly what San Pedro was all about, because it was hard to gauge if they were the real deal with their 7-0 record leading into their game last Friday against Carson. San Pedro normally schedules a weak non-league schedule, so ending up 5-0 was not saying much. Knocking off two of the weaker Marine League teams did not say much either.
But San Pedro made a statement that said that they were for real when the shut out Carson 21-0 last week. A week earlier Narbonne slipped away with a 38-37 victory over Carson after a bad PAT snap prevented Carson from sending the game into overtime.
Narbonne has proved throughout the season that they are one of the best teams around, and now people believe in San Pedro. This rivalry has added meaning because the winner will go on to win the league title and grab one of the top seeds.
The two teams styles are dramatically different. San Pedro’s style mirrors their city. They have a lunch pail approach to the game where they are going to run all game long, and then run some more. Even though their opponent knows that they are going to run it, they are going to do it anyway, and do it very well.
Narbonne has one of the best offenses in the City, led by junior quarterback Troy Williams, one of the best in Southern California. Narbonne spreads the defense out with multiple wide receiver sets and then lets Williams pick their opponents apart through the air and on the ground.
It is a good thing that these two heavy weight match ups are on different nights, so that the public can see the best that the City Section has to offer.
Last week’s results
Crenshaw 40, Locke 0
Dorsey 43, Fremont 6
West Adams 43, Manual Arts 0
Jordan 21, South Gate 16
Gardena 33, Washington 26
Narbonne 36, Wilmington Banning 3
San Pedro 21, Carson 0
Santee 13, Los Angeles 7
Venice 42, Hamilton 0
Fairfax 34, Palisades 6
Westchester 48, University 24
Arleta 45, Jefferson 7
Gardena Serra 21, St. Paul 14
Lakewood 46, Long Beach Jordan 24
Long Beach Poly 54, Millikan 0
Culver City 43, Hawthorne 20
Inglewood 42, Beverly Hills 0
Santa Monica 27, Morningside 7
Torrance 34, Compton Centennial 30
Dominguez 48, Gahr 17
St. Bernard 63, Verbum Dei 26
This week’s schedule
All games on Friday unless noted
Dorsey (7-1) at Crenshaw (5-2), Thursday 7 p.m.
Fremont (3-5) at West Adams (3-5), 7 p.m.
Locke (3-5) at Manual Arts (4-4) Saturday 1 p.m.
Narbonne (6-2) at San Pedro (8-0), 7 p.m.
Washington (2-6) at Carson (3-5), 7 p.m.
Banning 93-5) at Gardena (2-6), 7 p.m.
Hamilton (4-4) vs. Fairfax (5-3) at Belmont, Thursday 7 p.m.
University (3-5) at Venice 4-4), 7 p.m.
Westchester(5-3) at Palisades (2-6), 7 p.m.
Douglass (3-5) vs. View Park (4-4) at Rancho Cienega Park, 7 p.m.
Hawthorne (5-3) vs. Inglewood (3-5) at Coleman Stadium (Inglewood), Thursday 7 p.m.
Santa Monica (7-1) at Culver City (6-2), 7 p.m.
Beverly Hills (2-6) vs. Morningside (3-5) at Coleman Stadium (Inglewood), 7 p.m.
Mary Star (0-8) at St. Bernard (8-0), 7 p.m.
Verbum Dei (5-4) at Cantwell-Sacred Heart (5-3), 7 p.m.
Gardena Serra (6-2) at Harvard-Westlake (5-3), 7 p.m.
Compton (2-6) at Long Beach Jordan (3-5), 7 p.m.
Long Beach Poly (7-1) at Long Beach Wilson (4-4), 7 p.m.
Millikan (1-7) at Lakewood (6-3), 7 p.m.
Compton Centennial (6-2) at El Segundo (4-4), 7 p.m.
Downey (3-5) at Dominguez (6-2), 7 p.m.
Sentinel top 10
1. Long Beach Poly (6-1)
2. Crenshaw (5-2)
3. Dorsey (7-1)
4. Narbonne (6-2)
5. Lakewood (6-3)
6. Gardena Serra (6-2)
7. San Pedro (8-0)
8. Venice (4-4)
9. St. Bernard (8-0)
10. Dominguez (6-2)
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