3 days Ago
CARSON — San Pedro quarterback Marcus Jeronymo trusted Elias Redlew with his life. With a chance to not only score an upset but make a statement Friday, Jeronymo threw the ball up where only the 6-foot-2 Redlew could get it, bringing the ball down and punctuating a furious second-half that pushed San Pedro to a 40-34 overtime victory over Carson in the CIF L.A.
City Section Open Division semifinal. “It was a double post to the left and I saw the middle safety crawl deep,” Jeronymo said. “We have that chemistry and he knows to keep it skinny into the corner where nobody is.
I knew everyone was going to get it. He won every 50-50 ball (Friday).” Second-seeded San Pedro (9-3) will face top-seeded Narbonne in next Friday’s championship at El Camino College.
The Pirates trailed 17-0 heading into halftime and found themselves down 24-0 after Craig Walker returned the second half’s opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. “We could have tucked our tail,” San Pedro coach Corey Walsh said. “I can’t tell you what I told them at halftime, but we’re not going out like that.
” San Pedro scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, including a Dylan Franklin 15-yard touchdown run and a Redlew nine-yard reception. Franklin finished with 167 yards and two touchdowns. But it was Abraham Radisic’s interception that brought the Pirate sideline back into the game.
“I just read the play,” Radisic said. “I knew they were going to run a bend and I just took it to the crib.” Radisic’s heads-up playmaking wasn’t done yet.
After Redlew’s touchdown pulled the Pirates within 11, he caught Carson’s special teams sleeping and recovered the kickoff at the 23. Dylan Moreno’s 36-yard field goal at the end of the third made it a 31-23 game. San Pedro capitalized after its defense forced Carson to punt on its opening drive of the fourth quarter.
Franklin’s 48-yard touchdown run pulled the Pirates within two before Peter Eneliko’s 2-point conversion tied the game at 31 with 10:22 remaining in regulation. “This was an emotional game,” Radisic said. “We went into the locker room thinking we didn’t know if we were going to win or not.
We can’t have that attitude. Our coaches rallied together.” Manior Samayoa’s 34-yard field goal with 2:07 left gave Carson its first lead of the fourth quarter before San Pedro drove downfield, setting up inside the 30-yard line after Jeronymo’s 21-yard completion to Alex Diller.
Dylan Moreno’s 38-yard field goal made it a 34-34 game with 12 seconds to play. Jeronymo finished with 166 yards and 2 touchdowns to go with a pair of first-half interceptions. In overtime, Pirate defensive back Nurlan Zokhrabov deflected Carson quarterback Chris Fields’ pass on 4th down, giving San Pedro and Jeronymo one chance to put an exclamation point on the second half.
All signs pointed to Carson (7-4) controlling this game from the outset. On the Colt’s second drive, Carson quarterback Chris Fields connected with Amari Gray on a 38-yard pickup. Two plays later, Kameryn Hurst’s 28-yard scoring run gave Carson a 7-0 lead with 7:24 to play in the first quarter.
Fields finished with 171 passing yards, while Hurst gained 46 yards in the opening half. The Colt tailback was held to eight yards in the second half. As the Colt offense was stagnant in the first half, its defense proved up to the task of shutting down San Pedro.
Carson’s defense limited San Pedro to 53 yards in the opening half, but it was Tytus Salagi’s interception returned for a touchdown that doubled the Colt lead. Salagi stepped in front of Pirate quarterback Marcus Jeronymo’s pass and raced 40 yards for the Colt score, making it a 14-0 game with 6:18 left in the first half..
