So far, not much unnerves the San Pedro High football team.

Not a last-minute loss to Narbonne of Harbor City, and especially not a fierce, determined challenge from Harbor Area neighbor Banning of Wilmington in front of an announced Homecoming crowd of over 5,000-plus screaming fans. 

San Pedro's defense stood firm throughout, while the offense took advantage of several moments of Pilot error in crucial moments en route to a 28-14 Marine League victory on Friday, which is now the seventh consecutive victory for the Pirates in the Battle Of The Harbor rivalry, and 12th victory out of the last 13 since the 2002 season.

This latest win was a great way to bounce back from a disheartening 28-24 loss to Narbonne last week in the Pirates' Marine League opener.

There were a lot of gutsy plays San Pedro (6-1 overall, 1-1 league) had to come up with on defense in shutting out Banning in the first half.

A methodical run-based drive mixed with short passes from Banning senior quarterback Matthew Arrendondo put the Pilots on the San Pedro two-yard line on the game's opening possession, which took off five minutes and 42 seconds off the clock, but on the 13th play, junior linebacker Jake Rezai stopped Banning sophomore running back Joel Villareal on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line.

The Pirates narrowly escaped a safety on the next play and were forced to punt following a three-and-out, then forced a Banning three-and-out when junior safety Antonio Frazier drilled Banning senior wide receiver Janson Navarrette on an incomplete pass which kept the game scoreless after one quarter.

San Pedro finally produced the game's first touchdown as senior running back Anthony Bolden took a sweep handoff and raced up the left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown run with 3:44 left in the second quarter.

That play was set up by Banning's first two defensive mistakes that occurred on one play, when San Pedro junior quarterback Jacob Miller mishandled a high snap, somehow recovered it, then the Pilots' aggressive nature in going for the loose ball ended up costing them 15 yards on a personal foul penalty.

Banning (4-3, 1-1) tried to bounce back driving to San Pedro's 40-yard line late, but Arrendondo was picked off by Frazier to close out the first half.

Once the third quarter began, San Pedro had to end their first possession with another three-and-out, and were forced to punt... but that's where Banning's next defensive mishap would occur, and sophomore WR/DB/P Michael Hernandez Jr. would find it, and capitalize on it.

Hernandez Jr. saw a Banning linebacker and defensive back fade into their drops, and a giant hole would occur, allowing Hernandez Jr. to take off and run for 25 yards to keep the drive alive on an unintentional, intentional fake punt that brought back memories of a similar method former San Pedro quarterback Kenny Potter used in a victory at Carson in 2011.

Three plays later, San Pedro senior running back Chris Alvidrez busted loose for an 18-yard touchdown run, and the Pirates would go up 14-0 with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter, but Banning stormed back with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Villareal's 20-yard touchdown run, cutting their deficit down to 14-7 with 3:35 to play.

Banning's curious call for an onside kick after the score was recovered by San Pedro senior linebacker Chris Lauro.

Once again, Hernandez Jr. would create yet another mistake as he caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Miller with 35 seconds left in the third quarter by simply beating his man to the ball in the back end of the end zone. Of course, that came after Banning was drawn offsides on a fourth-and-one play.

Banning would answer again with another time-consuming drive of 80 yards on 17 plays that carried into the fourth quarter, ending with Arrendondo's eight-yard touchdown scramble with 5:23 to play to cut San Pedro's lead to 21-14. The Pilots caught what they thought was an apparent break when San Pedro lost 15 yards on a bad snap, but that's when yet another defensive mistake would happen.

This time, it was Miller spotting Alvidrez sneaking out the back-door and hitting him with a perfect pass in stride. Alvidrez was completely by himself as he cruised to Banning's 17-yard line on a 67-yard pass completion, turning impending disaster into total jubilation. Alvidrez would seal the deal for San Pedro four plays later by running for a four-yard touchdown, his second of the night with 1:54 left in the game.

San Pedro's defense forced Banning to turn it over on downs for the third and final time to close out the game.

With this victory, San Pedro now takes control of the all-time Harbor Area Feud series with Banning with the series now reading 38-37-3 in favor of the Pirates, who hosts Washington Prep of Los Angeles next week.