Culver Looks to Take Next Step Towards Ocean League Title

Two years ago Culver City lost 49-0 to the Santa Monica Vikings. Last year the Centaurs returned the favor by spanking Santa Monica by the same score.

This year the Centaurs have a chance to secure a piece of the Ocean League title if they beat the Vikings on Senior Night and then finish their season with a win at Beverly Hills next Friday night against the winless Normans.

Last week Culver City beat Hawthorne 62-35. Early in the fourth quarter we lead only 42-35 before rolling off 20 unanswered points to log the final tally.

Since El Segundo upset league favorite Lawndale, there is now a 4-way tie for first place in the Ocean League standings at 2-1.

Santa Monica and Culver City have had 2 common opponents, Lawndale and Hawthorne. Santa Monica lost to Lawndale 49-20 while the Centaurs lost to them only 45-33. Santa Monica lost to Hawthorne 40-28 while Culver City beat Hawthorne 62-35.

Tonight's game is a must win for Culver City if they want to continue their quest for a second straight league title.

The Vikings have had a proud football tradition over the years but last year they took a major fall when Coach Clark left to go to Lawndale. Several very good Santa Monica players "magically transferred" to Lawndale to continue playing for Coach Clark.

Santa Monica went winless last year only to be given a win when Lawndale had to forfeit several games. Another player attempted to transfer to Lawndale from Mira Costa and the "magic" finally ran out.

Santa Monica has an option-type offense, which could give Culver City some trouble. In the past the Vikings have always had a power, run oriented offense that they affectionately referred to as the "ground and pound."

If a team has not seen an option offense before, it can be a difficult task to stop it. Culver City must read their keys and each player will have to do their job to contain Santa Monica's high scoring offense.

The Vikings are lead by an athletic and run oriented quarterback, junior Dariush Seyson, who according to 5 game stats on MaxPreps had run 31 times for 133 yards for a 4.3 yards per carry average.

In 5 games Seyson had completed 35 of 69 passes for 661 yards and 3 touchdowns and a just over 50% completion rate.

Their 2 top running backs are junior Tony Dancy who had rushed 84 times for 500 yards and a 6.2 yards per carry average and 7 touchdowns through the first 5 games and senior Antonio Holly who had run for 424 yards in 25 carries over 3 games for a 17 yards per carry average and 8 touchdowns.

Although the Vikings do not pass the ball very much their go-to receiver, Leo Reynoso, had 12 catches for 325 yards through 5 games, a 27.1 yards per catch average, and 2 touchdowns.

Defensively the Vikings have switched to a more gambling, blitzing style to try to confuse and disrupt their opponent's offenses.

They typically play a cover-3 zone defense and will go man to man when they blitz. In the past Santa Monica had been a hard nosed, grind-it-out team on offense and somewhat conservative but hard-hitting on defense.

This new-look Santa Monica team is a big departure from past Viking teams. However, since this is a rivalry, expect the Vikings to come out and hit the Centaurs hard throughout the game.