After opening the Pioneer League with two straight wins the Culver City High School varsity football team is hoping to make it three wins in a row when they host North Torrance on Friday at 7 p.m. It’s a Home Coming game so the atmosphere should be electric when the 4-3 Centaurs battle the 3-4 Saxons.
Last Friday the Culver City defense finally stepped up and held a high scoring West Torrance team to 12 points. In their previous six games the Centaurs gave up an average of 42 points. Culver City beat West Torrance 51-12. “We were excited to get another Pioneer League win,” said Culver City head coach Jahmal Wright after practice this week. “The team played well and the defense really stepped up and played their best game of the year. They stopped a pretty explosive offense. We were just excited about the overall team victory.”
Although the defensive players did their jobs against North Torrance the offense continued to produce excellent numbers. While the defense was giving up huge numbers in the first six games the offense was spectacular in the first seven games. In those seven games the Centaurs averaged 39 points per game.
Leading the offense is one of the top quarterbacks in the CIF Southern Section, Nicholas Hoang. The senior signal caller has completed 163 out of 242 passes for 2,507 yards and 28 touchdowns. He has also run for 386 yards and four touchdowns. “He is doing a great job,” said Wright.
lOne of the greatest quarterbacks in Culver City history, Zevi Eckhaus, who is now an assistant coach for the Centaurs, had this to say about Hoang. “He is playing great football. I think the most important thing is for him to stay in the moment. He needs to try to be at his best every single day and continue to grow as a quarterback and a leader. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Hoang is defiantly not a one-man show. He has a lot of support. Starting with the offensive line who gives him protection. Then, there are his receivers and thirdly, his running backs. Anchoring the offensive line are Kem Anuluoha, Abraham Duarte Lopez, Justus Ivery, Anesh Khattri, Alessandro Sanchez and Mattero Jauergui.
The receivers are led by Jo’el La Foe who has 45 receptions for 937 yards and 11 touchdowns, CJ Bludso-Cohen has 33 receptions for 427 yards and eight touchdowns, Kai Dawson has caught 27 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns and Chaim Rosen has been on the receiving end of 25 passes for 342 yards for two touchdowns.
The running backs are Alozie Adkins who averages 9.6 yards per carry, and he has run for 423 yards and two touchdowns and Jamil Lewis with 242 yards and three touchdowns.
Another coach that was excited about the win last Friday against West Torrance was long time assistant coach Cornell Myles. “We came out to play, and we wanted to dominate the game and that’s what we did. We took control of the game on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and the special teams played outstanding football.”
Myles continued to talk about the team and the game. “The defense was hitting and the offense was rolling. That night we were the better team. It looks like we are one of the best teams in the Pioneer League, but the players have to embrace that. It was a great win for us because we have home coming on Friday and that is a special night.”
High school home coming games is a night to remember for the Culver City community. “Historically Culver City always has had great crowds at home coming games and this year that’s what we want. We want the fans to show up, and we want them to be loud and cheer for the Centaurs.”
