The time is now for the Culver City football team. The door is wide open and all the roads lead to a deep playoff run because the Centaurs have the talent and they have been placed in the lowest CIF Southern Section division in the last 20 years. They start their first Division 11 playoff game Friday at Culver City inside the Jerry Chabola Stadium. Kick is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Centaurs finished the regular season with a record of 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the Ocean league which was good enough to tie El Segundo and Lawndale for the league championship. Their opponent in the first round of the CIF playoffs is Moreno Valley’s Valley View high school. Valley View finished their regular season with a record of 6-4 and 3-2 in league play. The Eagles are led by running backs Justin Keeling who ran for 1105 yards and Dwight Brown who rushed for 938 yards.
Culver City is led by quarterback Jonathan Martin, running back Brandon Oum, receivers Kevin McGuire, Charles Ross, Devin Osborne and Justin Cox. Other offensive players that the Centaurs look to are linemen Nick Swinford, Jayden Porter, Cameron Willaims, Sebastian Knowles, Nathan Stennett, Roman Hayden and Justin Berry.
On defense Culver City relies on defensive backs Mekhi Ware, Ross, Tyler Luckett and Alexnder Smith. Elijah Salazar, Jordan Armstrong and Elijah Zavala lead a strong group of linebackers
The kicking game has been solid all year behind the feet of place kicker Carlos Barillo and punter and kickoff specialist Robert Simon.
After beating Beverly Hills 63-8 last Friday the Centaurs need to regroup and get ready for the playoffs. “We are taking the playoffs one game at a time and I am hoping we can make a run deep into the post season,” said Culver City head coach Jahmal Wright after their win over Beverly Hills. “We need to focus on our team right now and if we do what we are supposed to do it really does not matter who are opponent is. We just need to play Culver City football and I think that will take us a long way in the playoffs.”
Veteran Culver City assistant coach Cornel Myles knows it all starts with a good week of practice. “We are going to have to have outstanding practices next week,” said Myles after the Beverly Hills game. “We are just looking for our players to rise up and play to their potential. We have a lot of talent and we need to win our first round game and then we will see what happens after that.”
