CULVER CITY - The San Pedro High football team hadn't played a game in two weeks due to last week's bye, and normally that would spell trouble.
Not this time.
Facing a Culver City team that went undefeated in the Ocean League a season ago, provided a nice test indeed for the visiting Pirates, who passed with flying colors in an impressive 38-17 intersectional victory over the Centaurs, improving their season to 3-0 overall for the second straight season.
It was the first-ever meeting between San Pedro and Culver City (0-3), whose fast-paced no-huddle spread offense was contained throughout the night by the Pirates' defense, while the offense, although committing three turnovers and nine of their 12 penalties coming on the offensive side, was otherwise proficient, and found a brand-new go-to guy in sophomore wide receiver Raymond Geha.
After forcing a punt on a six-play, game-opening drive by Culver City, it only took San Pedro three plays to break out.
Junior quarterback Jacob Miller throws a perfect aerial strike to a streaking Geha down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown and a 7-0 San Pedro lead with 7:45 left in the first quarter. Senior kicker Christian Mills added a 25-yard field goal to increase the lead to 10-0 with 1:36 remaining in the quarter. San Pedro's defense forced a trio of three-and-outs to keep the Centaurs off the board.
Late in the first half, Miller would find Geha again with a dart over the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, putting the Pirates ahead at 17-0 with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter, and the score would stay that way at halftime despite Miller getting picked off earlier in the quarter by Culver City junior linebacker Kyle Lyons.
The third quarter began with a long drive by San Pedro that ended when Culver City senior defensive lineman Fred Wadibia recovered a fumble for the Pirates' second turnover. It would lead to a 25-yard field goal by senior kicker Tony Caiseros with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Centaurs had a 34-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Quintorious Truitt to senior wide receiver Jason Grossman wiped out due to a holding penalty.
San Pedro would answer with a five-play, 57-yard drive all on runs, ending with a strong 18-yard touchdown run by Chris Alvidrez, giving the Pirates a 24-3 lead with 3:27 left in the quarter. The Pirates nearly added to it as junior WR/DB Antonio Frazier's electrifying 61-yard punt return touchdown was nullified by a clipping penalty.
Culver City would gain new life early in the fourth quarter when senior Donovan Davis stripped the ball from Alvidrez and returned the fumble 94 yards for a touchdown, cutting San Pedro's lead to 24-10 with 10:18 to play. Sophomore TE/LB Nick Zabatta recovered the Centaurs' onside kick, but the Pirates were still forced to punt. Sophomore WR/DB Mikey Hernandez Jr.'s punt was downed inside the five-yard line.
Back-to-back illegal substitution penalties set the Centaurs back to their own two-yard line, and two plays later, Truitt's pass bounced off of Grossman's hands, and into the hands of San Pedro junior cornerback Christian Michaels who returned the interception 10 yards for a back-breaking touchdown with 5:09 to play for a 31-10 Pirate advantage.
Senior running back Christian Serna ran for 28 yards on six carries in San Pedro's final scoring drive, which he capped off with a four-yard touchdown run with 1:19 remaining. Culver City feasted on San Pedro's second string on the game's final possession as junior running back Cahlil Cooper ran for a 28-yard touchdown with five seconds to go for the final scoring tally of the night.
Alvidrez ran for a game-high 180 yards on 20 carries, while Geha caught all four of Miller's completions for 148 yards to pace San Pedro. Miller overall was 4-for-11 with two touchdowns and an interception.
San Pedro hosts University of Los Angeles next Friday.
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