What a difference a week makes. Last week the Centaurs had three teams in the CIF playoffs and this week that count dropped to zero. All three teams were eliminated last week. The football team loss to Oxnard Pacifica at home, the girls’ volleyball team loss to Elsinore on the road and Crescenta Valley defeated the boys’ water polo team.
The Ocean League champion football team was riding a three game winning streak before they ran into a bigger and faster Pacifica team. Culver City turned the ball over seven times which helped to contribute to the final score of 45-20.
“We had too many turnovers and our lack of execution really hurt us,” said Centaur head coach Jahmal Wright. “We had too many interceptions and fumbles. We fumbled the opening kickoff and after that we just made too many mistakes. We did not come ready to play like we should have. I know for a fact we were a lot better than we showed on Friday. As a coach it is very frustrating because you want your team to be at its best at the most crucial moments.”
Although the score was lopsided, several Centaur seniors can look back on their final game with pride. Running back Fred Poindexter ran for 164 yards on 20 carries, wide receiver Mason Mulvihill caught eight passes for 103 yards and one touchdown and defensive back Louis Schulze had one interception.
Juniors Mekhi Ware and Bryce Lewis-Wolfe contributed to some of the scoring against Pacifica. Ware caught four passes for 75 yards and one touchdown and quarterback Lewis-Wolfe completed 14 of 28 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns but he also threw three interceptions.
The Centaurs will graduate several key players from the 2015 team but they also have a solid group of players returning. “The positive thing is we have a lot of players coming back. This year the younger players got a lot of experience playing at the varsity level and that should help them in the future,” said Wright. “This is another step in the right direction but we need to learn how to play better when the stakes are high.”
The Centaurs finished the season with a record of 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the Ocean league which was a big improvement over last years’ record of 2-8. “The support we received from the Culver City fans was awesome,” said Wright. “The community really had our backs. I really want to thank the entire Culver City community.”
The girls’ volleyball team finished with a record of 17-12 and they were 7-3 in the Ocean league. They won their first round playoff game but blew a two game lead against Elsinore. They won the first two sets of the match 25-17 and 25-22 and loss the final three sets 25-23, 25-17 and 15-13. The boys’ water polo team loss to Crescenta Valley 19-5 in the second round of the CIF playoffs. They beat Brentwood in the first round.