Crenshaw Shuts Down Dorsey, 16-13

Although it had only been two years since Crenshaw last defeated Dorsey on the football field, to the Cougars it felt like an eternity

But that drought is over as the Cougars, ranked No. 17 in the Southland by The Times, upset the No. 10 Dons, 16-13, in a Coliseum League game before a sold-out crowd Friday night at Crenshaw.

Although the score was closer than it should have been -- Dorsey (5-2, 1-1) hung around by recovering three fumbles and getting an interception -- this was Crenshaw’s night.

The Cougars (4-3, 2-0) got 85 yards rushing and two touchdowns from fullback R.J. Garrett, 126 yards passing from quarterback Marques Curtis, and Tyquan Knox caught five passes for 71 yards.On defense, Crenshaw made Dorsey tailback Stafon Johnson earn his 144 yards in 29 carries and basically shut down everyone else. Quarterback Sule Tate completed only one pass to his own receivers and had two interceptions -- the second one by Darren Elliott on the Dons’ 25 with less than 20 seconds left to secure the outcome.

“[The seniors] couldn’t leave school without beating Dorsey at least once,” said Curtis, who completed 12 of 16 passes. “They had beat us three times straight. Now we have to win the league and prove to everybody who the real champs are.”

Dorsey Coach Paul Knox took the loss calmly. “They did a real good job on us tonight,” he said. “We just couldn’t get the ball to our other players besides Stafon. We’ll go back and try to get better; that’s what we need to do.”

Mike Terry

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Woodland Hills Taft 25, Lake Balboa Birmingham 0 -- Sending a clear message that they have become the City title favorites, the unbeaten Toreadors (7-0, 2-0) relied on the passing of Exavier Johnson, the speed of Jamere Holland and strong defense to shut out the defending champion Patriots (2-5, 1-1) in a West Valley League game at Taft.

Johnson, an improving sophomore, completed 14 of 22 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Holland, the reigning state 100-meter champion, caught six passes for 149 yards and one touchdown. He also was a standout at cornerback for a Taft defense that limited the Patriots to 52 yards rushing.

“They beat us up front,” said Birmingham Coach Ed Croson, whose team was shut out for the first time in his six years as coach. “They’ve got guys who look 25 and we’ve got guys who look 12.”

Taft opened a 13-0 halftime lead. Birmingham missed three field goals, two of which were blocked.

The knock on the Toreadors has been that they couldn’t stop the Patriots’ rushing attack, but sophomore Milton Knox gained just 60 yards in 18 carries.

Eric Sondheimer

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Sylmar 28, Granada Hills Kennedy 7 -- John Austin threw two touchdown passes and returned an interception for another score as the Spartans avenged last season’s 20-7 loss to the Golden Cougars in a Valley Mission League game at Kennedy.

Austin intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown to give Sylmar (7-0, 2-0) a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game.

On the Spartans’ next possession, Austin connected with Paul Waller for a 25-yard touchdown pass. He hooked up with Waller in the second quarter on a 60-yard scoring play that led to a 20-7 halftime lead.

The Golden Cougars (6-1, 1-1) managed only 65 yards of offense in the first half.

Sylmar’s C.J. Gable rushed 16 times for 120 yards and scored on a 56-yard pass play with less than three minutes left in the game for the final margin.

-- Mayar Zokaei