Palos Verdes capitalized on Redondo miscues Friday afternoon to win a 15-7 defensive battle and claim its fifth consecutive Bay League championship in front of a vocal home crowd celebrating Senior Day.
Redondo had plenty of opportunities to dethrone the Sea Kings, but two fumbles that led to nine points and long passes to wide-open receivers that fell incomplete were too much for the Sea Hawks to overcome.
Palos Verdes (6-3, 4-0) increased its league winning streak to 27 games and will tack on one more next week since Peninsula has forfeited its final three games of the regular season.
Palos Verdes head coach Guy Gardner took the Bay League championship and winning streak in stride.
“I’m happy for our staff and our players and proud of the effort our guys put out,” Gardner said. “In all honesty, we really don’t think about those things (number of league titles). I’m sure it’s in the back of our heads some place but those things take care of themselves if you work hard and keep things in front of you.
Redondo (7-2, 3-1) entered the game ranked No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section Western Division while defending champion Palos Verdes held the No. 8 spot.
“Winning the Bay League feels amazing,” junior tight end/linebacker Shane Irwin said. “We knew we had it in us. Redondo is a very good team but we knew we could bring it because we have in the past few years. It was a very physical game but did what we had to do to pull it out. All of our hard work paid off.”
Irwin and senior defensive end Kyle Messinger led a stingy defense that kept Redondo quarterback Jacob Silvera on the move for most of the game while recording six sacks. Palos Verdes held the Sea Hawks to 41 yards rushing, 40 of those gained by sophomore running back Jermar Jefferson who had 12 carries.
Palos Verdes drew first blood with 3:50 left in the second quarter when Kyle Coale kicked a 21-yard field goal after the Sea Kings had a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line.
It wasn’t long before Messinger and Irwin would have plays that changed the course of the game.
On Redondo’s second play following the kick off, Silvera was forced to scramble and Messinger’s blow from behind caused a fumble that Tre Gonzales recovered to give Palos Verdes a first-and-10 at Redondo’s 18-yard line.
A 12-yard pass reception by Irwin from quarterback Jake Nolls set up Adison Umrarong’s 3-yard touchdown run. A failed extra-point attempt gave Palos Verdes a 9-0 halftime lead.
Redondo tried to stretch the field in the second half with its passing game but had trouble coming up with the big play despite having receivers escape coverage. Silvera finished with 143 passing yards connecting on 17 of 30 attempts.
Redondo got on the board when Silvera hit Preston Faecher with an 11-yard touchdown pass with 2:02 left in the third quarter capping off a 10-play, 80-drive.
After Redondo’s defense forced Palos Verdes to punt early in the fourth quarter, the Sea Hawks coughed up the ball on their first play of the possession giving the Sea Kings a first-and-10 from the 16-yard line.
Once again, Redondo’s defense tightened and Palos Verdes was forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Coale giving the Sea Kings a 12-7 lead.
Coale added a 43-yard field goal with 3:09 remaining in the game to put the Sea Kings up 15-7. But three sacks on Redondo’s final drive of the game dashed the Sea Hawks final hopes of a comeback
Faecher had nine catches for 76 yards and Warren Jackson, who was named Redondo’s Offensive Player of the Game, had six catches for 38 yards for Redondo. Faecher earned Defensive Player of the Game for the Sea Hawks.
Cedric Muzik, Michael Rubio and Danny Zimmerman had tackles for losses for Redondo defense that limited Palos Verdes to 60 yards rushing and 81 yards passing.
“We didn’t play well. Offensively, we stunk,” Redondo head coach Matt Ballard said. “We had a chance to knock them off and didn’t do it. We’ll continue our season and see how we bounce back.”
Junior punter Zach Boesen was selected Special Teams Player of the Game and sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Tyler Wunderli was named Scout “Eager Beaver” Player of the Week.
With so many area teams in the CIF-SS Western Division, there is a chance the two teams can meet again in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Redondo will play for second place in the Bay League next Friday when the Sea Hawks travel to face rival Mira Costa (8-1, 3-1) at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale.
“We came out fighting against PV but didn’t play well,” Redondo senior linebacker Cole LeBlanc said. “We just had too many mistakes. I don’t think Costa is as good as them so I feel we’ll win.”
