Looks like San Pedro High football might be peaking at the right time...

In six days, it'll be CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoff time,

With a large Homecoming crowd at Pirate Stadium cheering them on, the host Pirates would roll to a 41-0 victory over Gardena to close out the Marine League portion of the season, and the 2013 regular season on a three-game winning streak. San Pedro's hard-nosed rushing attack proved to be almost unstoppable against the Panthers, rushing for 311 total yards.

The Pirates (7-3 overall, 3-2 league) were able to empty their bench and played the entire fourth quarter with a running clock. Now all that awaits them is the playoffs, as they will learn their fate Saturday morning. San Pedro is currently ranked No.5 in MaxPreps.com's City Section Division I poll.

It wasn't that perfect of a game for San Pedro, as the offense looked shaky at times, fumbling four times despite not losing any of them, and sophomore quarter Jacob Miller was intercepted in the second quarter, but all that hardly mattered on this night against a Gardena (2-8, 0-5) team that was ravaged by injuries and players lost at mid-season to poor grades.

San Pedro bolted to a 21-0 halftime lead on the strength of a 8-yard touchdown run with 3:33 left in the first quarter by Palacios, an electrifying 60-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter by Palacios, and a four-yard touchdown run by junior running back Chris Alvidrez. The Pirates also forced two turnovers on a pair of interceptions by senior defensive back Cean Tukes Jr. and sophomore defensive back Antonio Frazier on the last play of the first half.

In the third quarter, Alvidrez's 17-yard touchdown run with 11:12 to play, followed by a three-yard touchdown run by senior running back Stephen Vaughan with 3:01 left put the Pirates up, 34-0, and rounding out the scoring was sophomore running back Esteban Garcia's seven-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes left in the game. 

Sophomore defensive back Vincent Wood and senior linebacker Luis Lona both delivered jarring hits for a loss of yardage in the victory over the Panthers, while senior kicker Fernando Hernandez made all four of his PAT kicks.

Palacios ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries to pace San Pedro's ground attack. Alvidrez ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns on just three carries. No Pirate in this game had more than four carries other than Palacios' eight touches. 

Gardena, who played hard the entire night despite being outmanned, would take the game's final possession from their own 28-yard line to San Pedro's 15-yard line, but the drive stalled as senior kicker Hector Gutierrez missed a 34-yard field goal on the game's final play.

San Pedro would win their ninth straight game over Gardena dating back to 2005, and earned their second shutout victory of the 2013 season dating back to the opener against Morro Bay on August 30... but that was not all.

Senior FB/DT Manoah Tuiasosopo won the crown as the 2013 Homecoming King. San Pedro High senior girls soccer player Jenny Rivera was named the 2013 Homecoming Queen.