In the quest for the Los Angeles City Section championship, Narbonne and Crenshaw are the front-runners, as usual. The season is only two weeks old, so it would normally be pure speculation over which team is better. But some questions can be answered, thanks to their common opponent—Long Beach Poly.
All three of these schools have power-house football programs, so these games can be used as an early season measuring stick. Crenshaw had their crack at Poly first, with Narbonne taking on the challenge this past week.
And one thing is clear, out of the three schools, Poly has the best team at this point. The other conclusion that can be drawn is that Narbonne is better than Crenshaw. Narbonne played a competitive game against Poly, losing 34-21. As much as Poly won the game, it was Narbonne’s mistakes that contributed to their loss.
As for Crenshaw’s game against Poly on Aug. 30, it was not much of a contest. Poly scored touchdowns on all six of their first-half possessions, and the game was pretty much over early. Poly cruised to a 54-14 victory.
Now, the theory is that if teams A and B play a competitive game, and team A routs team C, then team B should be better than team C. But, that’s not necessarily how sports work. The match ups are different, and there are a lot of games between now and the championship game in December. Narbonne and Crenshaw are still the front-runners, and it’s anybody’s title.
Coming up this Friday night, the best local game on the schedule is Serra at Carson. Serra is one of the best teams in the state, and Carson is one of the power programs in the City Section. Many of the players on these teams grew up together, and have battled it out on the Pop Warner fields for years.
Last Week’s Scores
Crenshaw 49, South East 0
Paraclete 16, Dorsey 14
Long Beach Poly 34, Narbonne 21
Carson 41, Fairfax 7
Banning 26, Torrance 24
San Pedro 50, Locke 8
West Adams 42, McAuliffe 9
Palisades 40, Marshall 12
Bishop Montgomery 7, Westchester 0
Newport Harbor 40, Hamilton 0
Chatsworth 62, Manual Arts 7
Rancho Dominguez 65, Jordan 0
Hollywood 24, View Park 0
Santee 50, Wilson 6
South Gate 48, University 14
Washington 54, Dymally 0
Bellevue (Wash.) 31, Serra 14
Compton 35, Centennial 23
Dominguez 27, Long Beach Jordan 6
El Segundo 51, Leuzinger 0
Laguna Hills 27, Inglewood 22
Lynwood 40, Hawthorne 17
St. Bernard 14, Lancaster 13
West Torrance 51, Culver City 13
Morningside 66, Animo South Los Angeles 0
Verbum Dei 36, Gardena 12
This Week’s Schedule (all games are on Friday at 7 p.m. unless noted)
Fairfax at Birmingham
Gardena at Canoga Park
Jefferson at West Adams
Los Angeles at Jordan
Hamilton at Crenshaw
University at Banning
Manual Arts at Legacy
Marquez at Rancho Dominguez
Washington at Garfield
Westchester at North Hollywood
Blair at Hawthorne
Compton at Dominguez, 5 p.m.
Inglewood at West Torrance
Leuzinger at Bishop Montgomery
Torrance vs. Morningside at Coleman Stadium
Verbum Dei at Compton Centennial, 6 p.m.
Alemany at Narbonne
Angelou at Lynwood
Animo South Los Angeles at St. Bernard
Dorsey vs. Santa Margarita at Saddleback College
Serra at Carson Locke at Cathedral
Palisades vs. Santa Monica at Santa Monica College
Venice at Oaks Christian
View Park at Salesian