Dignitaries and prominent
citizens took to the field for
the grand opening of the new
sports facility, last Friday, as
the Centaurs began their season
in front of one of the largest
crowds in school history.
The new Culver City High
School stadium includes artificial
turf field, synthetic track,
a scoreboard, concession
stand and remodeled home
bleachers.
The pregame ceremony
featured a Centaur pep-squad
routine, the Centaur marching
band, a parade of youth sports
groups, adult organizations and
past and present Centaur athletes.
Members of the Culver
City Board of Education, City
Council, booster club and special
guests were recognized for
their contributions to the planning
and construction of the
ambitious project.
Balfour Beatty construction
company Vice President
Gil Fullan presented Culver
City School Board President
Kathy Paspalis with a plaque
to open the facility. Vice Mayor
Meghan Sahli-Wells proclaimed
September 6, 2013 as
Culver City High School Day,
while retired Athletic Director Jerry Chabola, who spearheaded
the project years ago,
was named “Centaur for Life”
by Athletic Director Tom Salter
and High School Principal
Dylan Farris.
The ceremony concluded
with the ribbon cutting, Chabola
throwing the first touchdown
pass on the new field to
six grandchildren and a fireworks
display.
Returning starter Stanly
Norman provided all of the
Culver scoring. He received a
48-yard pass from quarterback
David Handler (10 of 26, for 121
yards, one touchdown and one
interception) for the first touchdown
of the season and an
early 7-0 lead. After West tied
the game early in the second
quarter on a fumble recovery,
the Warriors next deep drive
was thwarted when Norman
snatched a loose football and
streaked 97 yards to put Culver
back on top, 15-7.
West struck back 32 seconds
later with running back Brett
Ojiyi scoring the first of his four
touchowns on a three-yard run,
to make it a 15-15 game. Ojiyi,
who ran for nearly 200 yards,
gave West a 22-15 lead at half
time with a six-00yard touchdown
run.
Punters for both squads
had vital roles in field possession.
Centaur Niko Melendez
performed well with long and
high kicks, averaging almost 40
yards a kick with few returns.
“It was one of the best performances
by a punter in school
history,” special teams coach
Greg Goodyear said.
The Centaurs scored a
potential tying touchdown
late in the third quarter when
Norman found a hole on the
left side and rambled 94 yards
into the end zone; however, a
sideline infraction nullified the
score which seemed to deflate
the team.
The Warriors took advantage
of good field position and
a tired Culver defense in the
fourth quarter. Ojiyi scored
on a four-yard run and put
the game out of reach with a
12-yard touchdown with less
than four minutes remaining.
CC (0-0, 0-1) travels to Peninsula
High (0-0, 1-0), Friday, 3
p.m., and returns home to visiting
Redondo, Sept. 20, in nonleague
games.
