By Dale Williams
Observer Reporter 

Centaurs Await The Big Test

 

September 25, 2012



They Warm Up With a 51-0 Win

The only thing that West Adams Prep provided the Culver City High football team with last Friday was a chance to have a glorified practice before the real test.

Playing against a clearly overmatched team, the Centaurs won 51-0 to improve to 3-1. But the real barometer of how good Culver City is comes this Friday against Pac-5 Division powerhouse Bishop Amat.

The Centaurs will travel to La Puente to take on the Lancers, ranked No. 15 in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times. Bishop Amat is 4-0-1 and one of the top teams in the Pac-5, which is the highest division in the CIF-Southern Section.

The only other time the Centaurs played a team in the top division of the CIF-SS was about a decade ago, when Culver City took on Los Alamitos and was soundly beaten.

But Centaurs coach Jahmal Wright is looking forward to the challenge that Bishop Amat represents.

“They’re a very talented team, a complete team,” Wright said. “We’re going to have to be at our best to compete with them. But we welcome the challenge of playing such a good team. That’s how you get better, is to play great teams.”

Bishop Amat has defeated such marquee programs as Servite and Charter Oak. The only game the Lancers haven’t won is a 48-48 tie against Chino Hills.

Bishop Amat is averaging 37 points per game, and in its four victories has won by an average of 13 points.

Last week the Centaurs warmed up for this week’s challenge against a West Adams Prep team that had been outscored 109-0 in its first two games. Culver City took a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

Stanley Norman scored the first two Culver City touchdowns, on a 51-yard pass from Xan Cuevas and a 62-yard punt return. Then Donovan Davis scored on a 2-yard run, and Justin Montgomery scored on a 14-yard pass from Cuevas.

And then the Centaurs began to put in backups, and the scoring continued. Brandon Hasson scored on a 38-yard run in the second quarter, and Anthony Caiseros kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 38-0 at halftime.

In the second half Mark Conley scored on a 25-yard pass from backup quarterback David Handler, and Miles Jackson caught a 27-yard pass from Handler to complete the scoring.

Since a season-opening loss to West Torrance, Culver City has appeared to steadily improve, but Wright said he sees plenty of room for improvement.

“I’m happy that we’re 3-1, but as a coach, you’re never satisfied,” Wright said. “We’ve shown flashes of being a very good team, but we’re not where we need to be. We’re not clicking on all cylinders yet. As a whole, we need to execute better.”

 

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