Centaurs Face A Familiar Foe, With A Twist

The Culver City High Centaurs are looking to stay unbeaten after an opening win in week one at Torrance West, a game in which the defense was stout, but the offense never quite got it going and generated most of its points through good field position and special teams play.

But despite a less than stellar showing, the Centaurs seem confident going into their home opener on Friday against Palos Verdes Peninsula—and with good reason. In their past two meetings, Culver City has beaten Peninsula by an average of 18.5 points per game.

This year however, the Panthers' coaching staff is looking to make some changes.

Peninsula has long been known as a smashmouth-style offense with a physical ground game, but this year they've got a few athletes in the passing game to provide an added dimension. Coach Adam Boyd said that the Panthers are planning to make their offense a little more balanced this year, but still are a hard-nosed football team.

"We put in a few tweaks on offense and defense, and adjusted to our current talent," Boyd said. "[But] we're just gonna line up and hit them in the mouth."

Culver City junior outside linebacker Ronald Jones, who missed practice for  much of the week because of an asthma attack, is expected to play in the game. He said that he's seen Peninsula for the past two years and is prepared for what they'll bring.

"They're a running team," Jones said. "They're going to try to pound it on us, but we're going to stop that."

The Centaurs will have to focus not only on the Panthers offensive arsenal, but also their own as well. Coach Jahmal Wright said that while he felt comfortable with the performance of his running game, he didn't feel the same about the passing attack.

"Our passing game really wasn't up to snuff as far as Culver City offense is concerned," Wright said. "We're used to lighting the scoreboard up and moving the ball up and down the field."

Starting quarterback Lukas O'Connor was only able to muster 96 yards passing in the opener against Torrance West, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Centaurs' one big play in the passing game was the result of wide receiver and wildcat quarterback Kevin Porche's touchdown pass.

The offense will get a change this week as senior quarterback Jordan Arrington will get the start. Wright insists that he is just making the change to give Arrington an opportunity to run the offense and not because he was unhappy with O'Connor.

Arrington will need to pick up even more slack this week because of an injury suffered by starting tailback Zakee Johnson. Johnson suffered a dislocated elbow in the third quarter of last week's game and did not return. Wright believes that Johnson will miss four to five weeks, but is confident his group of senior running backs will pick up where Johnson left off.

"We're pretty much three deep at running back," Wright said. "Now the other guys, Marquis Smothers and Craig Taylor, have to step up, which they're more than capable of doing."