All Ball Sports: USC’s gets unwanted defense assist, Redondo defense defeats Peninsula
by Paul Teetor
The worse that USC’s defense plays, the greater the chances that quarterback Caleb Williams becomes the first college football player to win two consecutive Heisman Trophies since Archie Griffin in 1975.
That’s because the worse USC’s defense plays – and it’s pretty bad right now – the more points Williams has to put on the scoreboard to keep USC in the game.
That was never more evident than in Saturday’s electrifying 48-41 USC victory over Colorado in the best college football game of the season – so far.
There were several times when Williams looked like a replica of Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback in the NFL. He ran circles around Colorado’s defense, threw the ball from impossible angles, and found receiver after receiver wide open for big gains. That’s why he’s the heavy favorite to be the first pick in the NFL draft next spring.
Coming into the game, Colorado was the most hyped team in the nation – mainly because of Coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders – a former pro football Hall of Famer, and Major League ballplayer.
But it was his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was driving Colorado on the field. He had been so good that he was ranked as the second-best quarterback in the nation, behind only Williams.
The game started out looking like a mis-match, as USC raced out to a 21-0 lead. Particularly impressive was a 71-yard TD strike from Williams to Tajh Washington. This was going to be another cakewalk for the Trojans, right?
Not so fast. Colorado immediately got a 30-yard passing TD from Sanders to Jimmy Horn to make it 21-7. But Willams found Mario Williams in the endzone for a 24-yard TD, followed by yet another TD pass from Williams, so once again the lead looked insurmountable at 34-7.
But with 21 seconds left in the first half, Sanders weaved his way through a porous USC defense for a 25-yard TD run that closed the gap to 30-14.
From that point on it was a race between the ineptness of the USC defense – which gave up 27 points in the second half – and the excellence of the USC offense, which tacked on an additional 14 points on two Williams TD passes — just enough to keep USC in front when time ran out.
In the end, Williams had connected on 30 of 40 passes for 403 yards and an eye-popping six touchdowns. On the season, Williams has hit on 105 of 141 passes for 1,603 yards, 21 touchdowns and only one interception.
As long as the USC defense continues to give up huge chunks of yardage, Williams will just have to continue putting up video-game numbers.
Bring on the Heisman Trophy.
Redondo Coach Tommy Chaffins and Mira Costa Coach Cam Green offer kindly advice to their respective teams. Costa prevailed, at home, in 5 sets, after losing the first two sets.
Redondo rolls on, Mira Costa in Nightmare Alley
Redondo High School just seems to have a knack for winning football games under the coaching of Keith Ellison, a Redondo alum and former NFL player who knows what it takes to win.
Last week the Sea Hawks routed West Torrance by 23 points as quarterback Niko London threw four touchdown passes. This week they squeaked by Peninsula 7-0 despite London being sacked four times.
Same team, same personnel, but a different MO every week.
Different star each week too.
Last week it was London and his top wide receiver Nate Stiveson shining in the limelight. This week it was running back Colin Kelly with the big play, bringing the Sea Hawks a victory and electrified the homecoming crowd.
Three plays into the second half of a scoreless game, Kelly took a handoff from London on a sweep right, cut up field with his blockers knocking would-be tacklers flat as a pancake, and sprinted the next 65 yards along the sideline for the only scoring play of the entire game.
It was the end result of weeks of practice.
“You know what, it just popped for us,” Ellison said. “We’ve been trying to get it, trying to get it, trying to get it, and we finally blocked it up right. Colin made a great cut, and it was 65 yards and a touchdown. We needed it.”
For his part, Kelly spread the credit around: “Our guys pulled really well, I saw the hole, and I hit it right away.”
The razor tight victory pushed the Sea Hawks record to 5-1 on the season and, more importantly, it opened the Bay League portion of their schedule on a winning, 1-0 note.
In addition to Kelly’s spectacular run, some stellar red-zone defense was needed for the Sea Hawks to pull out this dramatic victory.
Visiting Peninsula came away empty in three second-half trips inside the red zone — the last one in the final minute.
Ezequiel Johnson’s interception at the 17-yard line with 14 seconds to go nailed down Redondo’s fourth close win in its last five games against the Panthers. The interception set off a raucous celebration in the packed home stands.
The stands were already full of cheering fans because it was a homecoming game and Redondo was winning. But the interception took the celebrations to a whole new level.
“It was a great game,” Ellison said. “Just one of those games I’m happy we won, but you always feel for the other side. It could have gone either way. It was a defensive battle — there were two really good defenses out there — and a great win for us.”
In the first half the teams combined for a paltry 114 yards and crossed midfield just twice. For the Sea Hawks one big reason for that anemic offense was the absence of their top receiver, Nate Stiveson, who was out with a back injury.
With his star receiver out, London struggled to extend drives, going 0 for 7 on third-down conversions. Having Stiveson, who has 115 career receptions for 1,944 yards and 22 touchdowns, available would have made London’s job a lot easier.
“It obviously hurt,” Ellison said. “He’s an all-area, All-CIF player, and the guy can really play. Not having him takes a really good weapon out of our offense. It affected us.”
Peninsula (3-3), managed just 41 yards in the first half, extending two drives on pass-interference penalties. But they reached the red zone twice in the second half, only to be turned back by the Sea Hawks stout defense.
The most serious Peninsula threat came with two minutes left in the game. Quarterback Marco Ruggiero connected three times with Sean Dunn, the team’s top receiver. The last pass went for 24 yards to the Redondo 15, with a little less than a minute to play.
A sack moved the ball back to the 19, and Johnson’s interception off a carom secured the Sea Hawks’ victory.
“Just very happy how our defense played,” Ellison said. “We stepped up and made the plays when we needed to, and it’s nice to have a homecoming win.”
Next week they will host Culver City, which opened league play Friday night with a comeback win over Mira Costa.
Culver City overtakes Mira Costa
The Mira Costa football team is developing a bad habit: building double digit leads and then watching them evaporate in the game’s final stages.
It happened again Friday night as Costa raced out to a 13-0 lead over host Culver City, only to have the Centaurs score two late touchdowns and grab a 14-13 backbreaker of a victory.
The devastating loss dropped the Mustangs to 0-6 on the season, 0-1 in the Bay League, and opened the league portion of their season on a sour note.
Senior linebacker J.R. Kirkwood’s forced fumble with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter sealed the win for the hosts, who started the Bay League schedule on the right foot.
“Defense won the game for us,” Culver City coach Jahmal Wright said.
The first half belonged to Mira Costa, when it appeared the Mustangs were ready to claim their first win of the season, put the 0-5 nightmare non league record behind them, and open a new chapter with a hard-earned win in their first league game.
The Mustangs scored first with a pair of field goals by Nico De Sisto for a 6-0 lead.
Then on the Centaurs third drive from scrimmage, Mustangs senior defensive back Reese Leonard, who is also the team’s star wide receiver, intercepted senior quarterback Sammy Silva’s pass attempt.
Riding the momentum from the turnover, Costa got in the end zone with three quick plays. Senior tight end David Burga-Donovan’s 10-yard catch from sophomore quarterback Liam Meeker, who started in place of Nico De La Cruz, extended Mira Costa’s lead to 13-0.
“These guys have scored 72 points on other teams,” Mira Costa head coach Don Morrow said. “I thought our defense played great. We just came up short.”
Junior wide receiver Myles Singleton’s 42-yard catch put Culver City on the board on the first drive in the third quarter to cut the lead to 13-7.
Following the score, the teams traded punts in five straight drives.
Midway through the fourth quarter, senior running back Pierce Reynoso’s 13-yard run into the end zone tied the game for the Centaurs. They successfully kicked the extra point for the one-point margin that held up the rest of the game.
Still, the Mustangs kept fighting.
With five minutes left and Costa in the red zone on first and 10 from the 15, Kirkwood’s blitz around the edge caught Meeker off-guard. The quarterback was unable to shake Kirkwood’s arm-tackle that forced the fumble and turned the ball over to the Centaurs.
The Mustangs did get the ball back with three minutes left to play on their own 30 and managed to get to the Centaurs 35-yard line. On fourth and 10, De Sisto’s 52-yard field goal attempt was short, enabling Culver City to escape with a one-point victory. Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. Follow: @paulteetor ER