Just when the San Pedro High football team had their hopes of a Marine League championship dashed with a heartbreaking 28-24 loss to rival Narbonne of Harbor City on October 10, another chance suddenly struck three weeks later... on Halloween night no less.

Last week, the Gauchos' 14-game league winning streak was snapped with a stunning 39-35 loss to Carson, and now it's the Colts who own sole possession of first place and control their own destiny to their first league crown since the 2010 season.

Hold the phone... it's not over yet.

San Pedro (8-1 overall, 3-1 league), who has lost three straight to the Colts (7-2, 4-0), still has that proven track record of always coming through in games with the Marine League championship on the line, as it will be on Friday, 7 pm at Pirate Stadium. This Friday also marks the ten-year anniversary of one of San Pedro's greatest home victories since the Stadium made its debut in 2000.

Ironically enough... the league title was not on the line, and Carson was the opponent.

Coming into San Pedro, the Colts were coming off a big victory over Narbonne to clinch their fifth straight Marine League crown (outright or shared), while the Pirates were coming off an ugly loss at Gardena. Yet, San Pedro felt they still had something to prove to themselves, and most importantly Carson, that they are still very dangerous.

San Pedro was basically fighting for a spot in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs (Division I), or drop down to the Invitational Division (now Division II) playoffs with a loss in this encounter.

Carson took a 14-3 lead in the third quarter, but then San Pedro suddenly flipped a switch. The Pirates suddenly bolted to a 31-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter, taking advantage of two recovered pooch kicks that were muffed by the Colts, and an interception by San Pedro's Petey Ponce to help turn the tied. Dustin Garneau's 33-yard touchdown pass to Nick Armesto after the Pirates' first recovered pooch kick put San Pedro up 17-14 late in the third quarter.

The Colts would score two touchdowns late, but were unable to stop the clock, or the Pirates from winning 31-28, ending Carson's 17-game Marine League winning streak and forcing the Colts to share the league title with Narbonne.

Could the 2014 Pirates pull off something similar on Friday?

Carson only needs a victory to win the Marine League crown outright, but a gigantic monkey wrench can be thrown into the CIF-LACS playoff seedings with two other scenarios if San Pedro is successful.

A loss by Carson means the Pirates get a share of the league title and the head-to-head tiebreaker if Narbonne loses to Banning, or the most likely scenario being a three-way league championship between the Pirates, Colts and Gauchos, and THAT is where the controversy could take place.

Carson is paced by former Mary Star product and senior quarterback Kiki Flores, senior running back Jabari Minix (perhaps the most explosive player in the league), along with hard-hitting senior cousin defensive tackles Manu and Wessen Enesi, while San Pedro will be led by the likes of senior running back Chris Alvidrez, junior quarterback Jacob Miller, senior OL/DL Dominic O'Brien and junior WR/S Antonio Frazier.

Alvidrez is only 54 yards away from reaching 1,000 yards rushing this season, while he needs two rushing touchdowns to surpass Jeff Williams' 1993 San Pedro school record of rushing touchdowns in a season.

Carson won last year's meeting, 27-21 at Carson High, where the Colts built a 21-0 first quarter lead and held off a San Pedro surge.

(Note: Photo courtesy of Vince Pirozzi)