This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Centaurs' Late Surge Beats Redondo

Culver City scores 17 points with under four minutes left to win 40-23.

It wasn't nearly as dramatic as last year's frantic finish, but that's just fine with Culver City High quarterback Lukas O'Connor.

The Centaurs had rallied to beat Redondo Union in the final seconds of last season's nonleague football game, but Friday night they produced just a little earlier and won 40-23 to remain undefeated.

The game was tied 23-23 with four minutes left before Culver City scored 17 unanswered points. First, O'Connor hooked up with Kevin Porche on an 11-yard scoring pass, then Tilman kicked a 30-yard field goal as the clock ticked under two minutes. Moments later, Ronald Jones picked off a pass by Redondo's sophomore quarterback Harrison Faecher and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.

Find out what's happening in Culver Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The defense started out real slow but made some big plays in the second half," said O'Connor, who completed 15 of 32 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. "Redondo kept pounding the ball, pounding the ball, pounding the ball. We got the ball once in the first quarter and we ended up scoring and that was good. We have to make adjustments next week so we're ready for Leuzinger."

Redondo drove to the Centaurs' 8-yard line on the first possession of the game but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Hunter Bradshaw. Culver City responded when Julius Wilson caught a crossing pass from O'Connor and raced 78 yards for a touchdown that gave the Centaurs a 7-3 lead.

Find out what's happening in Culver Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Faecher's 36-yard touchdown pass to Bradshaw gave Redondo a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter. Culver City answered with a five-minute drive culminating in Akili Skannal's 5-yard scoring run. The Sea Hawks fumbled the ensuing short kickoff and Jones recovered at the 32. Porche caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from O'Connor less than one minute later to extend Culver City's lead to 20-10. 

With just over one minute left in the first half, Faecher threw a 51-yard strike to Davion Goodall to pull Redondo within three points, but the Centaurs got in field goal range and Tilman booted a 32-yarder as time expired to send Culver City into the locker room ahead 23-17.  

"We have to come out with a better mindset for the game, mentally and physically," Centaurs senior linebacker and team captain Khalil Pettway said. "We played real bad in the first half but in the second half we came out hard and picked everything up."

After forcing Culver City to punt on its first drive of the second half, Redondo evened it up on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Faecher to tight end Steven Vaughn. The extra-point snap was fumbled and the game remained tied until late in the fourth quarter. 

"We played a real good team that knows us very well and played us tough, and we fought through some adversity," Centaurs Coach Jahmal Wright said. "I'm proud of how we kept fighting and played good offense and defense at the end."

Deon Young had eight tackles and two sacks while defensive backs Miles Washington and Anthony Luckett provided lock-down coverage in the second half.

"Next week, we need to tighten up on the mistakes we made because we made a ton of them," Wright said. "Once we tightened up everything I was proud of how we played defense in the second half. We pretty much shut them down the last six drives of the game."

Akili Skannal rushed 11 times for 85 yards, Porche had seven catches for 79 yards and Wilson had three grabs for 98 yards. Culver City was penalized seven times for 49 yards in the first half but was not flagged once over the final two quarters.  

"Defensively, at halftime we talked about shutting down the inside on the draw plays, they need to come upfield and stop so they don't over pursue," Centaurs assistant coach and former Culver City player Greg Goodyear said. "Penalties, we have to work on it more in practice. We have to be more disciplined."

On Friday at 7 p.m. the Centaurs will host another Bay League team, Lawndale Leuzinger (0-3).

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Redondo

3 14

6

0

23

Culver City

7

16

0

17

40

Scoring Summary

Redondo -- Bradshaw 25 field goal

Culver City -- Wilson 78 pass from O'Connor (Tilman kick)

Redondo -- Bradshaw 36 pass from Faecher (Bradshaw kick)

Culver City -- Skannal 5 run (Tilman kick)

Culver City -- Porche 14 pass from O'Connor (run failed)

Redondo -- Goodall 51 pass from Faecher (Bradshaw kick)

Culver City -- Tilman 32 field goal

Redondo -- Vaughan 17 pass from Faecher (kick failed)

Culver City -- Porche 11 pass from O'Connor (Tilman kick)

Culver City -- Tilman 30 field goal

Culver City -- Jones 31 interception return (Tilman kick)

Records: Redondo 1-3; Culver City 3-0.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?