Football: Six TD passes deserves attention

In case you missed it, junior quarterback Torey Whitfield of Los Angeles Hamilton passed for six touchdowns in a 63-20 victory over Los Angeles Wilson in the City Section Division II playoffs.

Hamilton is bringing in portable lights for Wednesday's 7 p.m. home game against Los Angeles Franklin.

"He has very good mechanics," Coach Adam Golding said of Whitfield. "He reads defenses well. And he can only get better."

-- Eric Sondheimer

Football: Taft's D.J. Morgan is waiting for diagnosis

Fans and supporters of Woodland Hills Taft running back D.J. Morgan are going to have to wait until Monday to learn the seriousness of the knee injury he suffered Thursday night during a playoff game against Garfield.

Morgan had an MRI done Friday night, but he has been waiting for a doctor to read the results. If he were a college or professional player, he'd probably know by now.

Taft is unlikely to have him for its Wednesday playoff game against Los Angeles Dorsey, but it is track fans who are most concerned. He's the No. 1 hurdler in the nation, and a track season without Morgan would be devastating.

So let's all hope the news will be good this coming week. There's so much excitement Morgan produces when he's running in the hurdles or carrying a football. I don't want to see his senior year end so quickly.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Girls' volleyball: Saturday's City championship scores

GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL

Championships, Saturday at Roybal

Division I: #1 Granada Hills d. #2 San Pedro, 25-17, 25-20, 25-9

Division II: #3 Taft d. #1 Venice, 25-18, 25-22, 16-25, 25-19

Small Schools: #1 Foshay d. #3 Elizabeth, 25-14, 25-13, 25-9

Baseball: Poly hires ex-Roosevelt assistant

Sun Valley Poly has selected Gabe Cerna, the top assistant to Scott Pearson at L.A. Roosevelt last season, as its new baseball coach.

Cerna has spent 14 years in the City Section as an assistant coach, including eight years at his alma mater, Marshall, and five at San Fernando. He comes highly regarded by Pearson, who said Cerna was one of the hardest workers he has met.

"I'm excited," the 35-year-old Cerna said. "The possibilities are endless."

Cerna graduated from Marshall in 1992 and was an all-league player.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Cross Country: LACES, Elizabeth top Small Schools

Yemane Gebreyesus, a junior from Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, won the City Section Small School boys' cross country title Saturday morning at Pierce, completing the course in 16:46 to finish five seconds ahead of runner-up Angel Pena from Northridge Academy.

James Montes of Huntington Park College, Juan Sanchez of Harbor Teacher and William Vazquez of Downtown Magnet also advanced to next week's state finals in Fresno. Fulton College (61 points) won the team title.

Sophomore Kimberly Carrizoza ran 21:04 to win the girls' race and lead Elizabeth Street Learning Center to the team title. Teammates Marilyn Murillo and Fatima Carrera finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as the Bulldogs edged LACES by four points, 51-55.

Qualifying as individuals for state were runner-up Gabriella Meza of Harbor Teacher, Estenia Gomez of Downtown Magnet, Diana Valencia of USC MaST, Maya Calendar of LACES and Maria Pantaleon of Harbor Teacher.

-- Steve Galluzzo

Cross Country: Delgado leads Pirates to City crown

Laura Delgado of San Pedro pulled away in the last mile and won the City Section girls' cross country championship Saturday morning at Pierce College, clocking a personal best 18:16 to set the tone for a dominating team victory by the Pirates.

San Pedro won its seventh team title in 11 years by a whopping 95 points as the last four of its five scoring runners (Lorena Garcia, Tiana Thorp, Evelyn Gonzalez and Jocelyn Silva) swept places 7-10 for a cumulative total of 31. The Pirates were so deep, in fact, that their sixth runner, Itzel Ramirez, finished 11th.

"Everyone stepped up huge today and ran big PRs," said San Pedro Coach Bruce Thomson, whose team moves on to next week's state finals in Fresno. "I'm really proud of Laura [Delgado]. She's a senior and it's great to see all of her hard work pay off."

Individual qualifers for next week's state meet in Fresno were Taft senior Fany Alvarado, who finished second in 18:29, Palisades freshman Jacklyn Bamberger (third in 18:32), Venice senior Jaclyn Walles (fourth in 18:43), Los Angeles senior Martha Pena (fifth in 18:46) and Monroe senior Jennifer Mendoza (sixth in 18:55). 

Taft and Monroe tied for second in the team competition at 126 points, but Birmingham earned the City's second state berth based on the sixth runner tiebreaker.  

Former San Pedro and UCLA standout Valerie Flores, who won five City titles in cross country and track from 1998 to 2000, was on hand to present the team and individual medals. 

-- Steve Galluzzo

Cross Country: Rosales breaks City finals record

San Pedro senior Pablo Rosales ran 14:31 to win the City Section boys' cross country championship Saturday morning at Pierce College, breaking the finals record of 14:42 set by Belmont's Roman Gomez in 1983.

Rosales' previous best time was 15:08 in last year's City finals, when he finished second to El Camino Real's Brett Schmitt. This time, he was happy to win but happier that younger brother David, a sophomore, finished ninth and earned the last qualifying spot for next week's state meet in Fresno.

"I felt comfortable, I was pushing it, but I didn't think I was on a fast enough pace to get the record," Rosales said. "When I reached the two-mile mark I was like 'It's now or never.' I had a big lead so I just went for it."

Also qualifying for the state meet as individuals were runner-up Javert Solarzano of Granada Hills (15:04), junior Macario Sanchez of Santee (15:35) and senior Sumit Misra of Granada Hills (15:38).

Monroe won the team title with 55 points, led by fifth- and sixth-place finishers Jorge Mendez (15:23) and Fabian Parra (15:34). Birmingham and Granada Hills tied for second at 72 points but Birmingham had the faster sixth runner and will join Monroe at the state meet.

Rosales' time was eight seconds off the all-time course record at Pierce, set by Granada Hills' Ian Alsen in a dual meet in 1987.

-- Steve Galluzzo

Football: City quarterfinal schedule

DIVISION I

Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

#8 Westchester (8-3) at #1 Crenshaw (11-0)

#12 Dorsey (8-3) at #4 Taft (7-4)

#11 Narbonne (6-5) at #3 Venice (10-1)

#7 Locke (7-4) at #2 Carson (9-2)

DIVISION II

Quarterfinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

#8 Fairfax (6-5) at #1 Los Angeles Roosevelt (10-1)

#5 Franklin (9-1) at #4 Los Angeles Hamilton (8-3)

#11 Sun Valley Poly (9-2) at #3 El Camino Real (10-1)

#7 Cleveland (8-3) vs. #2 Arleta (10-1) at Monroe

EIGHT-MAN

Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

#5 Annenberg (9-2) vs. #1 View Park (11-0) at Rancho Cienega Park

#3 Animo Robinson (10-1) at #2 Fulton (8-3)

Football: Early look at City Section quarterfinals

Here's an early look at the City Section Division I quarterfinal matchups set for next Wednesday, with only one turkey in the bunch. I went a not-so-stellar 5-3 with the first-round picks and am hoping for a bounce-back performance:

No. 12 Dorsey (8-3) at No. 4 Taft (7-4): Dorsey rebounded nicely from back-to-back losses in the first round against San Pedro, with quarterback Joseph Gray and defensive back Jabri Proby coming up big in a convincing 33-17 triumph. Taft has some injury issues with running back D.J. Morgan (knee) and quarterback Bam Goodall (possible concussion), but the Toreadors are overloaded at running back with Lucky Radley and Shaquille Shelton ready to step in. I think Taft has superior speed to San Pedro and matches up well with the Dons. Prediction: Taft 35, Dorsey 21.

No. 11 Narbonne (6-5) at No. 3 Venice (10-1): Narbonne easily handled sixth-seeded L.A. Jordan on the Bulldogs' home field, so why not Venice as well? The Gauchos have so many great athletes--running back Melvin Davis, receiver Sean Parker, quarterback Chad Dashnaw, etc.--that it's hard to see how they lost so many games. Coach Manuel Douglas said "we have flashes where we're really good and then moments when we're not." Venice has steamrolled over a mostly nondescript schedule but will put up a fight against the City's defending co-champions. Prediction: Narbonne 24, Venice 21.

No. 7 L.A. Locke (7-4) at No. 2 Carson (9-2): Locke continues to surprise, knocking off Banning one week after getting past Dorsey to take second place in the Coliseum League. But Carson is on a different level than either of those teams. Prediction: Carson 31, Locke 12.

No. 8 Westchester (8-3) at No. 1 Crenshaw (11-0): The only turkey in the quarterfinal round. Prediction: Crenshaw 49, Westchester 10.

--Ben Bolch

Photo: Crenshaw receiver Geno Hall looks for running room during the Cougars' first-round victory over Birmingham on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Robert Helfman.

Football: Fulton has comeback of the day

Van Nuys Fulton trailed Los Angeles New Designs, 44-14, at halftime of a City Section eight-man playoff game.

Game over? Hardly.

Fulton rallied for a 76-44 victory, shutting out New Designs in the second half.

The Jaguars (8-3) will play L.A. Animo Robinson (10-1) in a semifinal on Wednesday. Animo Robinson defeated Fulton, 36-34, in September.

--Ben Bolch