Culver City football faces another top-rated team in Warren

One thing you can say about Culver City's fall 2021 varsity football team is they are not afraid of competition. For the third week in a row the 2-1 Centaurs will face a top ranked team. This week it's 4-0 Warren of Downey on Friday. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Jerry Chabola Stadium on the Culver City High School campus.

"Each game is going to be tough," said long time Culver City assistant coach Cornell Myles after they beat Pasadena last Friday at home 43-34. "I am glad we are playing a tough schedule. It's fun to play good teams because it prepares us for the Bay League. Every game is like a championship game."

Three weeks ago, the Centaurs played Loyola, last week it was Pasadena and this week it's Warren. All three teams have several college Division 1 players that make opposing coaches lose sleep at night. The Warren Bears have one of the best players in the state in 6'6, 210-pound junior quarterback Nicholaus Iamaleava.

Iamaleava has completed 88 passes for 1242 yards and 20 touchdowns. Two of his favorite targets are Jordan Anderson who has 19 catches for 360 yards and Joshua Johnson with 16 catches for 310 yards. On defense they are led by middle linebacker E. J. Smith.

"They are a very good football team," said Culver City head coach Jahmal Wright after the Pasadena game. "We definitely have to slow down their offensive attack and we can not turn the ball over and hopefully we can score some points."

The Centaurs will counter with their own star power in freshman quarterback Alonzo Esparza, senior running back Jamiere Munson, receivers junior Ethan Harris, senior Elijah Adams and junior Darius Poles on offense.

The defensive unit is led by senior safety William Schultz, junior cornerback Deshunn Powell, linebackers senior Aaron Salas and senior Jasani Pitts, junior safety Malik Lewis senior safety Prince Okorie, senior corner back Chauncy Robinson and senior safety Munson. . Linemen that have played well for the Centaurs are junior Mason Meriwether, junior Robert (Bobby) Singerman, sophomore Keenan Carter and senior Bryce Williams, who had an outstanding game against the Pasadena Bulldogs.

"I feel good," said Williams after the Pasadena game. "We started off a little rocky, but we ended up playing a good game. We worked hard against adversity. I thought we did a good job."

Wright had this to say about the 6'6 315-pound Williams who recorded seven tackles against Pasadena and five of them were for losses. "Bryce is a college player. He is really playing well. He is becoming our stalwart up front. We are going to lean on him to get us through some of these tough games."

Williams, who plays on the offensive and defensive line is having fun playing football at Culver City. "What makes this team so special is we are all a big family. We watch out for each other. We look out for each other. Playing offense and defense is tiring but it's fun."

Against Warren Culver City will need to control the clock and keep the ball out of the hands of Iamaleava, and the best way to do that is run the ball. Culver City leading rusher, Munson appears to be ready for the challenge. "It feels good to be able to run behind our big offensive line," Munson. "I just trust in the game plan and my coaches. They put us in the right place at the right time to make plays."

On defense Munson came up with the defensive play of the game when he intercepted a Pasadena pass and returned it for a touchdown in the second half. "We were in man-to-man defense, and I followed my receiver, and I watched the quarterback's eyes."

On Friday it will be another big game for the Centaurs, but Wright breaks the game down to its simplest form. "The most important thing is to put more points on the scoreboard than the other team."