Culver Wins Passing Tournament

By Melanie Trup

Special to the Observer

How good is Culver City High’s football team this year? If their performance in Saturday’s passing tournament at West LA College was any indication, the Centaur faithful have a lot to look forward to.

The Centaurs were led in the field of six teams (Washington Prep, Fairfax, Cabrillo of Long Beach, the host Wildcats- who fielded a team of their incoming freshmen, and University) by quarterback Lukas O’Connor, who recently played an important role on the baseball team that advanced to the CIF semi finals.

The Centaurs were placed in a pool with Cabrillo and Fairfax, and swept through pool play. In the first game against Fairfax senior receiver Jimmy Heywood caught two touchdown passes, and his classmates Michael Horchin, Kevin Porche, and Alex Jackson also hauled in touchdowns.

Malik Deckard, Sean Floyd and Miles Washington, who each had an interception, led the Centaur defense. The Centaurs would go on to win the opener, 40-8.

In the second game against Cabrillo, O’Connor threw for four more touchdowns. Jackson caught two, and Porche and Ben Matsushita also had touchdown receptions.

Deckard and Washington pulled in interceptions for the defense, and the Centaurs would go on to win, 30-18 to sweep their way into Tournament play. In pool play the Centaurs earned the top seed, and Cabrillo was ranked second.

In the first game of tournament play the Centaurs faced off against the host Wildcats and had their most competitive game of the tournament, Senior receivers Heywood and Jackson caught the two touchdown passes from O’Connor, and Culver City earned a berth in the tournament championship with a 20-12 victory.

It was in the championship that Culver City would find itself in another competitive game against Washington Prep. O’Connor continued his stellar performance with four more touchdown passes. Michael Horchin caught two, and Porche and Heywood added another reception to their totals..

Senior linebacker Ronald Jones tallied an interception for the defense, and Culver City would take the tournament title, 30-21.

Coach Jahmal Wright was pleased with the team’s overall performance and felt they’d improved after the prior weekend’s appearance in the San Fernando Valley Elite Passing Tournament at Pierce College.

Offensive coordinator Aki Wilson decided to consistently go for two point conversions, which were at the 10-yard line in this tournament because, “I felt it was easier to go from the 10 yard line because it gave us more room to operate.” The Centaurs were successful on almost every conversion.

This weekend Culver City travels to the San Dimas Passing Tournament at Bonita high school. This tournament has one of the largest fields in Southern California and is also considered one of the most competitive environments with more than 35 teams.

Culver City has fared well in this tournament and the Centaurs’ success in summer has been a good barometer for how the team will fare during the season.

The Centaurs begin play in the San Dimas Tournament on Friday.

The team will finish its summer schedule in the Claremont Tournament. The Alumni game will be played at the high school on July^h at 5 pm, all interested alumni may attend.