Just when you thought the Culver City High School football team might catch a break in the schedule, here comes El Segundo.
The 6-0 Eagles may be the best team in the Ocean League. The young 0-6 Centaurs will try to ground El Segundo on Friday night at 7 at the Jerry Chabola Stadium on campus.
And this is the Homecoming game.
Culver City is trying to focus on El Segundo and forget last week’s 42-10 loss to Lawndale.
The Centaurs only trailed Lawndale14-10 going into the third quarter. But the offense went flat and the defense wore down.
“We just can’t find anything that we are doing well,” head coach Jahmal Wright said. “We will keep fighting. Centaurs don’t give up. The main thing I keep telling our team is, no one is going to feel sorry for us. We just have to line up and play hard.”
Injuries played a key part in why Lawndale was able to score so many points in the second half. Starting left guard Richard Yoshida had the flu and the starting center was injured in practice. So the offensive line was hurting. “It’s tough going to war when you have key injuries,” Wright said.
Tomorrow for Homecoming, the Centaurs will have their hands full. El Segundo has scored a ton of points. Further, in six games they only have given up 28 points. They are led by their all-CIF quarterback Lars Nootbaar and running backs Ryan Kelly and Miguel Wagner-Bagues.
Where Boosts Are Needed
If Culver City expects to stay in the game, they will have to play their best game of the year. They need to eliminate their mistakes and hold onto the ball.
“We tell the players every week that everything starts at practice,” said assistant coach Cornell Myles. “We tell them the way you practice is the way you play in the game. We tell them that regardless of the outcome of the game you just played, you have a game next week.”
Despite the Centaurs’ winless record, Myles sees positive developments. “I like the enthusiasm of this team,” he said. “But when the game starts, we are having a hard time getting our momentum going in the right direction.
“We still get excited when we make big plays. That means we have not given up. For our Homecoming game, we need to show Culver City pride.”
The Centaurs will need all of their players to be on the same page. Junior quarterback Quintorius Truitt must cut down on interceptions, and the Centaurs need to get the ball to their gamebreaking wide receivers, Justin Manyweather and Evan Tillman. The offensive line will need to open holes for running backs Donovan Davis, Anthony Polk and Fred Poindexter. On defense, linebacker James Simon is improving, according to Myles.
Mr. Finley may be contacted at sfinley50@aol.com
