By Mike Cohen
Winning every game would be nice, but Culver City High School football Head Coach Jahmal Wright will not insert injured players into preseason games to gain an edge, he said this week, reflecting on the Centaurs' 50-7 loss at Crenshaw last Friday while several starters on the sidelines nursed wounds.
"I'm not going to put any player in harm's way, especially during the preseason," said Wright, who added that he has never experienced as many injuries as have occurred this season.
Now in his second year heading the Centaurs, Wright said the squad's numerous injuries are giving him an education on how to piece together lineups and be productive against good teams.
"It's been challenging. We still want to play well and show the rest of the South Bay we're a good team," said Wright.
Culver City (3-1) plays in Harbor City Friday at 7 p.m. against last year's city finalist, Narbonne (1-3), in another pre-league encounter.
Missing in action due to injuries were starting tailback Zakee Johnson, running back Crae Taylor, two-way all-league lineman Billy Sanchez and starting defensive lineman Jonathan Jackson. Leading Centaur receiver Alex Jackson, who scored the squad's only touchdown, did not play in the second half due to a leg strain, according to assistant coach Greg Goodyear.
"We will make a decision late this week on whether Zakee and Billy will play this Friday. They would help tremendously against Narbonne, which is big up front, is really skilled and has lots of speed," said Wright.
Wright pointed out, however, that the most important games are against league opponents, such as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Inglewood.
On Friday the Centaurs will have to fire on all cylinders against the co-city champions of two years ago.
Narbonne lost close games to powerhouses Long Beach Poly and Mira Costa, and were soundly beaten last week by touted Serra, 48-22.
"Their record is deceiving because Narbonne has played some really tough teams. The team has a good sophomore quarterback and a strong line," said Goodyear.
After a hard fought first quarter, the game against the Crenshaw Cougars was never in doubt.
"We didn't think the game against Crenshaw was a good indication of how far we have come as a team. We are a lot better football team," said Wright.
The nationally ranked Cougars scored on the first play of the game, a 67-yard touchdown slant pass that eluded Chris Brown in the Centaur secondary.
The Centaurs answered with a bomb to Alex Jackson for Culver's only score, 7-7, with 3:47 left in the first quarter. Jordan Arrington's toss was perfect on the 60-yard touchdown play.
Second-string center Jon Kocker snapped the football over Arrington for a 25-yard loss, which put the Centaurs on their own 10-yard line and set up Crenshaw's next score – a touchdown pass, which made it 14-7.
Arrington threw three interceptions in the second quarter, putting the game practically out of reach.
A screen pass was picked off, which led to a touchdown run by all-city player DeAnthony Thomas to make it a 21-7 game.
A deflection on a Culver City punt produced another score moments later on a quarterback run, 28-7.
Cleo Pettiway made a valiant effort to tackle Thomas on the next Crenshaw series, but Thomas scampered into the end zone to put Crenshaw up 35-7.
A Cougar tipped an errant pass by Arrington to another Cougar, who took it to the two-yard line. Crenshaw ran it in to go up 42-7.
Another Arrington pass was intercepted late in the second quarter, but Crenshaw, mercifully, could not score.
Ryan Mulvihill intercepted a Cougar pass with 33 seconds left in half.
Quarterback Lucas O'Conner started the second half with a fumble, which led to a three-yard touchdown toss, to close out the scoring, 50-7.
It was a busy night for Leo Zambrano, who played both ways due the lack of depth on the defensive line.
