It’s time for Culver City High School football. On Friday the Centaurs will kick off their 2026 season against Los Angeles City Section King/Drew High School. The game will be played at Culver City High School’s football field, and it will start at 7 p.m.
The Centaurs are hoping to bounce back after finishing the 2025 season with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-4 record in the Bay league. They also missed the CIF playoffs for the first time 10 years. The 2026 team, led by several key seniors that are hoping to lead this team to a winning season and back to the CIF playoffs.
“I am excited about this team,” said longtime Culver City head coach Jahmal Wright after practice this week. “The team is also excited. It’s a new year and we have some returning starters and a lot of senior leadership. It’s the first game of the season so I am expecting our team to exert a lot of energy and go out there and put together what they have learned doing the off-season training. We have great anticipation for the first game. Now it’s here and we are ready to go play Culver City football.”
Playing Culver City football means having a capable quarterback, fast receivers, a good running game and a quick defense. Also, for the past few years the Centaurs have had some really good kickers that were also good athletes. High school, college and pro teams rely heavily on the kicking game.
Opening the season at home is a plus for any team especially high school football when the Friday Night Lights come on, the students are back in school and the atmosphere is electric.
“It’s always fun to have a home game at Culver City High School,” said Wright. “The community does a great job of supporting the football program. The team gets excited to see the home fans packing the stands. It’s always special to play at home.”
There are many key seniors on the 2026 team but probably the most important one is quarterback Nicholas Hoang. The returning starter brings guidance and direction to a team that is young at several offensive positions.
“Nick is looking awesome,” said Wright. “He is being a leader. The team really looks to him to set the tone and lead the way. He leads by his actions. He has great character and he is a hard worker. We are really fortunate to have a young man that has great talent at the quarterback position.”
A great quarterback needs the offensive unit to be firing on all cylinders during a football game. First of all, he needs a good offensive line to protect him, good receivers and a strong running game.
“We have a talented group of receivers this year,” said Wright. “We don’t have a lot of experience at the receiver position, but they have talent. Senior Kris McKay gained a lot of experience last year as a starter and he is our vocal leader for that group. He is a 4.2 student who is very intelligent. Jo’el La Foe and CJ Bledsoe are some other receivers that we will rely on and also senior Kai Dawson. The receiving group is a combination of young players and some solid veterans.”
According to Wright, the offensive line looks great, and he said it’s one of the best offensive lines they have had in a long time. The running game is a big question mark right now because of their inexperience, but Wright said the talent is there.
On defense there are three levels that need to have talent, and the Centaurs have three seniors that appear to be ready to step up and lead this unit. Leading the defensive line will be Kim Anuluoha. The linebacking group is led by Damarion Boyd, and the defensive backfield will look to versatile Evan Powell who is also a basketball star for the Centaurs.
“We have senior leadership on the defensive side of the ball, and those three seniors will lead the way,” said Wright. “We will have a fast defense that will fly around, make plays and play Culver City football.”
The kicking game will be led by Diego Quintero and Xander Alvarez. “We have some very talented kickers that we expect them to help us win games.”
On Friday night the lights will once again shine brightly on the Culver City High School football field to start the 2026 season. “I just want us to come out and execute and play mistake free football and focus on one play at a time,” said Wright.
