Last week, we wrote about how most football movies aren’t very good. We must have gotten the football gods’ attention because during a season of lopsided football games, we got a second consecutive cinematic finish in the Compton and Lakewood Moore League football game on Friday.
With Poly solidly in first and Wilson solidly in second, Compton and Lakewood had a third-place battle going for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Moore League.
If you haven’t seen Compton play for the last two decades, here’s what you need to know: they don’t throw the ball. Their double-wing attack allows four or five ball-carriers opportunities to rush the ball, but the team usually attempts less than five passes a game.
Last week, against a Lakewood team they hadn’t beaten since 1997, Compton trailed by four points with three minutes left. They motored down the field using misdirection runs out of the double-wing, and then, with less than a minute remaining in the game, they attempted their first pass of the evening.
As it happened, junior quarterback Allen Monroe Jr. found an open receiver, who scored to give Compton a 30-26 win, the historic victory over the Lancers, and in all likelihood their first playoff berth in a decade.
“I don’t think many people can talk about Lakewood more than I can,” said Compton coach Calvin Bryant. “They just whooped my butt over and over again. It just felt real good to have this win.”
Game of the Week
Are we professional journalists? Yes. Have we won awards? Yes. Are we aware that the word “Game” in the subhead above is singular, and not plural? Yes. However, we’re disavowing that fact and giving you GAMES of the week instead.
First, Long Beach Poly is hosting Lakewood. If the Jackrabbits win, it will mean they’re the undefeated Moore League champions. We expect that to happen, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a championship game. A Lakewood win would mean Poly and Wilson share the league title with one loss apiece.
Presuming, however, that Poly beats Lakewood and that Compton beats Cabrillo, it would create some serious intrigue around our OTHER Game of the Week: Millikan at Wilson. A loss for Lakewood and a win for Compton would tie those teams at 3-3 in league to finish the season, with Compton owning the tiebreaker due to last week’s dramatic victory.
If Millikan beats Wilson, however, it would create a three-way tie for the third and final playoff spot between the Rams, Lakewood and Compton. Typically, the league uses an envelope draw tiebreaker to decide who gets the playoff spot in that scenario.
Kim Marshall
Mike bumped into our old friend Kim Marshall last week and got a great story. Kim played soccer at Wilson in some of our first years covering sports, 2007-2010. She was an All-American soccer player for the Bruins and the leader of the school’s 2008 CIF and national championship team, then went on to an All-American career at Wake Forest.
Kim is doing what many great Long Beach athletes do after they’ve hung up the cleats: working and coaching a little on the side. Last year, she coached her niece’s five-year-old AYSO team, which is where the story begins.
Kim’s team of little kiddos was trying to line up for a corner kick but didn’t quite remember how to do it. The former Bruin star walked to the end of the field to give them some instruction, when she was told by the ref that she needed to get back in the coaches’ box. Kim said she needed to leave the area to talk to her team, and the referee gave her a red card and kicked her out for talking back.
It’s worth noting that in Kim’s playing career, she was only ejected a single time. She’s coaching again this year, by the way, so officials beware.
Volleyball Playoffs
The first week of the playoffs went really well for the Long Beach teams. Poly lost but is still in for the State Tournament in a few weeks, while Lakewood, Wilson, St. Anthony, and Avalon are all alive for Wednesday night’s quarterfinals. The teams that win Wednesday will advance to the semifinals on Saturday and will clinch state tournament berths as well.
Moore League Golf Champion
For the second consecutive year, the Moore League girls’ golf individual champion was a freshman at Wilson.
Ninth grader Alyson Sor defeated last year’s winner, teammate Emi Sverduk, with a final round of 76 at Skylinks.
Avalon Star
Avalon junior Adalberto Martinez had five touchdowns and 320 all-purpose yards in another Express League win for the Lancers last week out on Catalina Island. The receiver caught four touchdowns and returned a kickoff 78 yards for another score. He also had 10 tackles and two interceptions on defense. Martinez currently leads the nation’s 8-man football ranks with 1,625 receiving yards, according to MaxPreps.