Football: Crenshaw, Dorsey face numbers crunch

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There’s only so much a coach and a program can do, and Crenshaw and Dorsey, longtime City Section football powers, are facing a growing challenge with dwindling enrollment.

Crenshaw has just 30 players on its varsity roster and a student enrollment that last school year was below 1,200. Dorsey is down to 40 players and below 1,500 enrollment.

‘It’s killing us,’ Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said.

Charter schools keep popping up near Crenshaw and Dorsey, taking away students. Dorsey continues to lose athletes to busing and private schools, Knox said.

Despite the drop in enrollment, Crenshaw and Dorsey remain in Division I for state football classification because it’s based on where a team plays within the section.

Meanwhile, both schools figure to find a way to be City Section Division I title contenders despite depth issues. Staying healthy will be important. Crenshaw opens on the road Friday against Corona Santiago. It appears that the versatile Mossi Johnson could get lots of time at quarterback.

Dorsey opens Aug. 30 against Fairfax.

— Eric Sondheimer