Redondo’s defense continued to dominate Bay League opponents and the Sea Hawk offense kept host Peninsula off balance Friday afternoon in a 40-7 win.
Redondo (4-4, 3-0) will host three-time defending Bay League champion Palos Verdes (5-3, 3-0) Friday at 7 p.m. in a game that will determine the league title.
Redondo held Peninsula quarterback Daniel Schubert to 158 yards passing while picking off three passes. The Sea Hawk defense also had six tackles for losses.
Quarterback Preston Faecher’s 26-yard pass to Michael Navarro gave Redondo a 7-0 lead with about four minutes left in the first quarter.
Dominik Eberle booted a 49-yard field goal early in the second quarter before Faecher connected with Warren Jackson on a 30-yard scoring strike to put Redondo up 17-0.
Faecher was 7 of 13 passing for 120 yards in the game and Jackson had two receptions for a team-high 46-yards.
Schubert’s short touchdown pass to Rory Hubbard put Peninsula on the board with its lone score of the day. The touchdown marked the first points surrendered by Redondo in three Bay League contests.
Redondo pulled away with 20 seconds remaining in the first half when Cole LeBlanc tipped a pass and Cedric Muzik grabbed the ball in midair and rambled 10 yards for the score.
The Sea Hawks continued to roll in the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Guy Alford and a 47-yard field goal by Eberle.
Alford finished the game rushing for 141 yards on fifteen carries. The junior running back has gained 626 yards and seven touchdowns on 105 carries this season.
Edward Vaki closed out the scoring for Redondo on a 5-yard run with about nine minutes left in the game.
“Our defense played solid football and offensively, we were able to open up the game more, make key completions, while relying on a steady running game,” Redondo head coach Matt Ballard said. “For the first time all year, our offense met all five of our offensive goals.”
The Redondo coaching staff selected Faecher as the team’s Offensive Player of the Game and junior linebacker Amir Crear as the Defensive Player of the Game.
Eberle was named Special Teams Player of the Gamer for his two long-distance field goals and Scout “Eager Beaver” Player of the Week award went to senior lineman Zachary Harris.
Redondo will celebrate Elementary/Middle School Night when Palos Verdes invades Sea Hawk Bowl. The Sea Kings are coming off a 34-7 win against Morningside.
“We’ll need to be a balanced and physically tough team against Palos Verdes,” Ballard said. “Our objective is to focus on doing our jobs every day and have a great week of practice.”
Mustangs lose heartbreaker
After Mira Costa got back on the winning track last week, the Mustangs suffered another setback Friday when visiting Inglewood quarterback Kindric Johnson scored on a 1-yard keeper with three seconds remaining in the game to give the Sentinels a 22-21 win.
The game was marked with controversy as Mira Costa believed Inglewood had not timeouts remaining when Sentinel coach Jason Miller call time out on the late drive.
After a discussion, referees decided that a previous called timeout was deemed in injury timeout. The Mira Costa sideline was still reeling from a ruling that gave Inglewood the ball after it appeared Mustang running back Tre Searcy was down prior to the ball coming out.
Inglewood (2-6, 1-2) is no stranger to controversy. The Sentinels forfeited two games earlier this season after an altercation in a game at North Torrance caused a double forfeit. Because Inglewood had so many players ejected and ineligible for the next game, the Sentinels did not play its final non-league contest against University.
Mira Costa quarterback Jacob Silvera had a 4-yard touchdown run and Omar Morrison scored on a 14-yard scamper.
Mira Costa (2-6, 1-2) will be playing for its postseason life Friday when the Mustangs host Morningside (4-4, 0-3). Mira Costa head coach Don Morrow hopes a win will propel his squad into the final week of the regular season when the Mustangs play at rival Redondo in the Battle at the Beach on Friday, Nov. 7.
“We went up against Morningside this summer in the Santa Fe passing tournament, and you could see they have some real athletic kids,” Morrow said. “They’ve had success the past couple of years in the Ocean League and we’ll have to find out more as we prepare to go up against them.”
