The Culver City High varsity football team won their opening game in the CIF Division 4 playoffs last Friday night, beating Capistrano Valley 38-25 in a hard-fought high school playoff game at Capistrano Valley. Next up for the Centaurs is the quarter-final match against Apple Valley on the road at 7 p.m.
“It was a back-and-forth game,” said Culver City head football coach Jahmal Wright. “We just kept fighting. Our team did not want to go home with a loss. Capistrano Valley is a well-coached team, and they came to play. The game was not decided until the last three minutes. I am very proud of the fortitude and fight that our team showed throughout the duration of the game.”
Although it was a collective effort according to coach Wright, leading that effort was senior quarterback Seth Shigg. He completed 21 out of 31 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran the ball 28 times for 240 yards and scored two touchdowns. Altogether he accounted for 547 yards and five touchdowns. “He really led the way,” said Wright. “He had a very remarkable performance for a quarterback.”
Shigg’s favorite targets against Capistrano Valley were Myles Singleton, Braylon Singleton and Zytel Boyd. Boyd caught six passes and scored one touchdown, Myles Singleton had five receptions, and one touchdown and Braylon Singleton caught five passes for one touchdown.
The Centaurs entered the game as the 14th seeded team in the division and Capistrano Valley was the 4th seed. “It felt really good,” said Braylon Singleton. “It felt good to be able to capitalize and win the game and move on to the next round. The game had a different vibe to it knowing that it could possibly be my last football game in high school. It felt really good to win the game.”
The Centaurs finished the regular season with a 7-3 overall record, but they had a 2-3 Bay league record. The Bay league was one of the toughest leagues in the state. “The Bay league prepared us for the first-round game against Capistrano Valley.” said Braylon Singleton.
The offense was outstanding, but the defense also came to play. Key interceptions by Tyler Handford and Damarion Boyd helped preserve the victory for the Centaurs. Boyd returned his interception 65 yards for a touchdown which helped the Centaurs take a nine-point lead with about three minutes to go in the game and Handford returned his interception 61 yards to give the Culver City offense good field position. “It was a nail-biter, but the defense really stepped up, they came to play” said assistant coach Ray Singleton. “Capistrano Valley was a really tough team.”
On Friday it will be the 8-3 Centaurs against the 8-3 Apple Valley Sun Devils. “We are really going to have to make it our kind of game,” said Wright. “They are a run heavy team, so we want to make it more of a track meet and a high scoring game. We really need our offense to get on track early so they won’t be able to just hold on to the ball.”