It was only the first round, but San Pedro High football wanted to prove a point that they're still a dangerous team.

By virtue of their 49-0 CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 1 first round domination of visiting Birmingham of Lake Balboa, the Pirates drove that point home and then some.

The performance wasn't perfect, but third-seeded San Pedro (9-2) would turn the contest into a no-contest with an explosive 21-point third quarter before rolling to victory over the No.14 Patriots (5-6), while the defense was staunch in posting their third shutout of the season, also the first playoff shutout victory since 1993, when San Pedro won 17-0 over Reseda in the 1993 CIF-LACS Division 3A playoffs. The Pirates repeated as champions a week later.

San Pedro would set the tone early in the first quarter... a game-opening three & out forced by the defense, and then the offense would get their kicks in early by the combination of senior quarterback Austin Jackson and junior running back Kai Kaneshiro.

That duo combined for 53 yards, sparked by Jackson's 16-yard pass to Kaneshiro to set up junior running back Sean Davenport's three-yard touchdown run. Senior cornerback Mikey Hernandez would then intercept a pass from Birmingham sophomore quarterback Jason Artiga, but the defense of the Patriots forced a punt, then junior quarterback Troy Smith then gets picked off by sophomore linebacker Junior Gafa, who would return it 34-yard touchdown and a 14-0 San Pedro lead late in the first quarter.

Davenport's two-yard touchdown run, his second score of the night coming with 23 seconds left in the second quarter, would extend San Pedro's lead to 21-0 right before halftime. During that quarter, Gafa would intercept Artiga near the goal line to thwart Birmingham's best chance to score midway through the second period.

From there, San Pedro came out of their halftime speech with a crystal clear mindset, and would score three more touchdowns in their four third quarter possessions, on short touchdown runs of two yards by Jackson, another two-yard touchdown run from Kaneshiro, and a 16-yard touchdown run from junior running back DeVean Randall for a commanding 42-0 edge.

In the fourth quarter which was played with a running clock... a historic moment was made.

Freshman running back Giovanni Rizzo, who was called up from junior varsity before last week's 26-10 Marine League win over Carson, would find a hole in the middle and burst right through it for a 30-yard touchdown to put an exciting close to the night for San Pedro. Rizzo is the first freshman to score a varsity touchdown in San Pedro High football history.

It was a solid defense all night for the Pirates, who intercepted four passes on the day, also getting a pick from senior defensive back Brandon Johnson in the third quarter. Senior defensive lineman Nick Ford, junior defensive back Anthony Mendez and backup junior defensive end Nick Sezate each garnered a sack. In all, Birmingham was held to 98 yards of total offense.

Davenport ran for 49 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns for San Pedro. Jackson threw for 79 yards and an interception, while also rushing for 25 yards and a touchdown, and Kaneshiro ran for 44 yards on six carries and another score. 

San Pedro should be in for a much stiffer battle next Friday in the quarterfinals, as they will host sixth-seeded Palisades Charter at 7 pm. The Dolphins (9-2), tri-champions of the Western League, won 41-0 over No.11 Carson.