By Mike Cohen
Junior Ret Tillman kicked and punted for the Centaurs Friday night against Peninsula when junior kickers Jorge Perez and Grant Coffey could not suit up due to injuries sustained in the win at West Torrance the prior week.
Tillman’s first extra-point attempt caromed off the crossbar and the next six split the uprights in the 41-14 victory.
“Ret did an excellent job considering the circumstances,” said assistant coach Greg Goodyear.
Tillman barely missed a 37-yard field goal attempt and booted five of seven kickoffs into the end zone.
“Those deep kickoffs are a monster weapon for us against some really good teams … Narbonne and Crenshaw teams have really good kick returners and his booming kicks will counter their effectiveness on special teams,” said Goodyear.
Coffey is strong and has a leg-up on newcomer Tillman when he returns to the lineup in two weeks. Tillman is a natural kicker and will typically handle the kickoff duties. Perez, who kicked extra points part-time on the varsity last year, is in a battle with Tillman to handle the point-after-touchdown and field goal duties.
The Centaurs are ranked fifth in the Western Division.
Poloists 2-0 after sinking Notre Dame, Hoover
By Joe Snyder
The Culver City High School boys’ water polo team is off to a 2-0 start after non-league home wins over Sherman Oaks’ Notre Dame and Glendale’s Hoover last week.
Against Notre Dame on Sept. 14, the Centaurs slipped past the Knights, 10-8. Last Thursday, Culver City started fast in downing Hoover, 14-7.
Against the Hoover Tornadoes, Culver City took leads of 5-0 after the first quarter, 8-4 at halftime and 12-4 after three periods en route to an easy win. Junior Christobal Galvan led the Centaurs with seven goals and junior Andario Fantella added three.
“We have seven seniors and three juniors,” Culver City head coach Nestor Dordoni said. “We’re a good team and working hard. We have room for improvement.”
Galvan had six goals in the Centaurs’ win over Notre Dame. Senior goalkeeper Kevin Basurto had several very good saves for Culver City.
“We’re still a growing team but we’ll get better as the season goes on,” Galvan said.
The Centaurs’ next game will be today at home against CIF-Los Angeles City Section rival Venice at 3 p.m. It will be the first of three straight games against L.A. City schools as Culver City hosts Cleveland High from Reseda on Friday and visits Birmingham High in Van Nuys on Tuesday. These next two matches also begin at 3 p.m.
Culver City remains in the Ocean League with Santa Monica, El Segundo, Torrance and Beverly Hills but will be moving up from Division V to III, which will also include the Bay League, led by powers Palos Verdes (ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll) and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (No. 5). The Centaurs will host the Mira Costa Mustangs on Sept. 30.
“It’s going to be a very competitive division,” Dordoni said of Division III. “It’s not an easy division.”
Culver begins Ocean League play at Santa Monica on Oct. 6. The Vikings and the El Segundo Eagles are usually the top two teams in the Ocean League and this year should be no exception, according to most prep water polo observers.
