The Culver City High School varsity football team finds itself in unfamiliar territory after they lost their final Bay league game 46-35 to Inglewood last Friday night at Coleman Stadium in Inglewood. The loss knocked the Centaurs out of the CIF playoffs for only the second time in the last 20 years.
“It’s always hard when you don’t make the playoffs,” said Culver City’s head football coach Jahmal Wright last Sunday. “It’s a tough way to end the season. It’s a disappointing season for sure when you don’t make the playoffs.”
The game against Inglewood was a reflection of Culver City’s 2025 season. Turnovers, mental errors at the wrong time cost the Centaurs a chance to win a few more games this season. “It was a hard-fought game,” said Wright. “I thought we made some crucial mistakes, but you have to give Inglewood credit, they converted some third and fourth downs situations that gave them an opportunity to win the game.
“We had some opportunities against Inglewood to win the game, but we were not able to make enough plays to come away with a victory,” said Wright. “It’s a tough pill to swallow but these are the cards that were dealt and we ended the season 4-6.”
The Centaurs ended the season 4-6 overall, and 1-4 in the tough Bay league. The top four teams in the Bay league were Leuzinger, 5-0, Palos Verdes, 4-1, Inglewood, 3-2 and Mira Costa, 2-3. All four teams were ranked high in the state and in the CIF polls.
There are three South Bay leagues, Bay, Ocean and Pioneer and somehow four of the best teams in the state and the CIF Southern Section, along with another good team Culver City, were all put in one league, the Bay league. In that situation there are always going to be one or two teams that don’t make the CIF playoffs. This year it was Culver City.
