For the second time in four years, the San Pedro High football team isn't able to avoid the rematch jinx.

Junior quarterback Jacob Miller's desperation pass in the end zone as time expired was batted down by Carson junior safety Dayshawn Littleton, and the top-seeded Pirates' quest for a CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I championship came to a devastating end in a 33-30 loss to the fourth-seeded Colts.

Without starting senior quarterback Kiki Flores to a season-ending injury sustained in a quarterfinal victory over Crenshaw, and losing senior backup quarterback Devonte King to an ankle injury on the very first play of this game, the Colts (10-3) didn't look far for a replacement.

Senior WR/RB Jabari Minix stepped into that role and flourished, rushing for 150 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown, while also throwing for a touchdown, to power Carson into the CIF-LACS Division I championship game against fellow Marine League tri-champion Narbonne of Harbor City on next Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Colts defeated the third-seeded Gauchos, 39-35 on October 31.

San Pedro (11-2), who defeated Carson, 17-15 on a late field goal by Christian Mills on November 7 which forced a three-way share of the league crown with the Colts and Gauchos, took a 22-19 lead with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter on Miller's 13-yard touchdown pass to junior RB/DE Donte Huddleston, followed by a two-point conversion pass to sophomore WR/DB Mikey Hernandez. A 70-yard connection from Miller to Huddleston set that sequence up.

Minix would retalliate by scoring two one-yard touchdown runs in a three-minute span to put the Colts up, 33-22 with 2:26 remaining in the game. The second score was set up by Carson's defense stopping San Pedro on fourth down when Miller's pass on fourth-and-six from the San Pedro 24-yard line to Huddleston was dropped.

Miller would complete two critical passes, a 23-yard strike to sophomore wideout Raymond Geha, followed by a 44-yard pass to junior WR/DB Christian Michaels to set up a three-yard touchdown run by senior running back Chris Alvidrez, who also caught the ensuing two-point conversion pass, and suddenly, San Pedro only trailed 33-30 with 1:48 to play. Carson recovered the ensuing onside kick, but San Pedro still forced a three-and-out and a punt.

Carson senior linebacker Moryan Robertson's punt was shanked, and San Pedro took over on Carson's 47-yard line with 30 seconds remaining.

Hernandez hauled in a 12-yard pass, then Miller completed a seven-yard pass to Alvidrez, and the ball was on the 30-yard line with five seconds left as the Pirates spiked the ball to stop the clock. San Pedro went for the win, but was then backed up five yards with a delay of game penalty. San Pedro was out of time outs, so their only option was to go for the touchdown since they were out of field goal range for Mills.

The ball hit the ground with a thud after Littleton knocked it down, and so went the Pirates' dreams of going under the Coliseum tunnel.

Miller completed 9-of-16 passes for a career-high 210 yards and he accounted for two touchdowns, also running for a short one-yard touchdown in the third quarter, to power San Pedro. Alvidrez finished with a single-season school record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 22 on his touchdown run late in the game. Senior running back Christian Serna's 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the Pirates' only score of the first half, which ended in a 7-7 deadlock,

Key part of the game was the fact that Carson didn't turn the ball over at all, and San Pedro turned it over twice in the third quarter, where Carson took a 19-7 lead as a result before Miller's one-yard sneak made it 19-14 by quarter's end.

San Pedro was dejected by the finish but they didn't crack under pressure and still had a great run in 2014.

Still a marvelous season even without a championship ring, something the Pirates can still be proud of.

(Note: Photo by Vince Pirozzi)