One of the hardest things in sport is winning a championship at any level. The Culver City football team found out the hard way when they were beaten by Covina 57-56 in overtime in an electrifying CIF semi-final game in front of a packed house inside the Jerry Chabola Stadium on the Culver City campus.
“I am consistently reflecting on the game,” Culver City head coach Jahmal Wright said a few days after the contest. “It was heart breaking but the boys fought hard and they gave it their best and they fought through adversity. It was a tough way to lose. It was just unfortunate to be on the losing end of such a great game.”
In a game like that no one play can define the game. It was like an Ali versus Frazier fight where both teams went toe-to-toe. One team would score, then the another team would score. Between the two teams they scored 16 touchdowns and gained almost 1200 yards of offense and it all came down to three yard two point play in overtime.
“We thought they had a very good team but we did not realize their running game was that good,” said Wright. Covina’s running back, Erick Cuellar ran for 311 yards on 49 carries and scored five touchdowns. Covina ran 89 offensive plays and Culver City ran 54 plays.
For the Centaurs, Kevin McGuire had 300 yards of offense. He ran the ball for 112 yards on seven carries and caught 12 passes for 188 yards and he scored four touchdowns. Centaur senior quarterback Jonathan Martin completed 18 out of 22 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns.
Culver City was ranked No. 1 for 12 weeks before their loss to Covina. They finished the season with a record of 11-2 and the future looks bright for the Centaurs. “Because of injuries we had to play a lot of young players and I think that will help us in the future,” said Wright. “This program is headed in the right direction and we are certainly one of the best football programs on the Westside.”