Senior rushes for 140 yards and scores three touchdowns as Carson levels its record with a 31-15 victory at Harvard-Westlake.

By David Rice
Daily Breeze Staff Writer

Carson knew going into Friday night's nonleague game against undefeated Harvard-Westlake that it had to cut down on its mistakes if it wanted to pull off an upset.

The Colts did just that, as they did not turn the ball over and their defense forced two Harvard-Westlake interceptions. They also were aided by a goal-line stand en route to a 31-15 victory over the Wolverines at Harvard-Westlake.

On offense, it was 2006 Marine League Player of the Year Jack Sula leading the way for Carson (2-2), running for 140 yards on 20 carries and scoring two touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass.

Carson quarterback Dominique Blackman threw for 125 yards and one touchdown for the Colts.

Carson scored first as Blackman led the Colts down the field with a mixture of short passes and Sula runs.

Then Blackman hit Sula on a screen pass and the senior ran 15 yards for the Carson touchdown and then Sula ran in the two-point conversion to put the Colts ahead, 8-0, late in the first quarter.

"We came out ready to play tonight," Sula said. "We had a good week of preparation and worked real hard in practice."

Early in the third quarter, with Carson leading, 15-7, Harvard-Westlake (3-1) had a first-and-goal at the Colts' 2. However, the Carson defense held strong stopping the Wolverines three straight times. Then on fourth down senior Darren Lipsey knocked a pass away from senior Jackson Ligouri in the end zone to stop the Wolverines' threat.

"I am very proud of our team as we did a good job tonight not turning the ball over," Carson coach Mike Christensen said. "This is a nice win for us, going on the road and beating a quality team. Our defense did a great job tonight. Especially the goal-line stand, which was huge for us."

Carson put together a 12-play, 90-yard drive, which ended with Juan Sanchez's 23-yard field goal putting Carson up, 18-7 with eight minutes remaining in the game. The drive, which took eleven minutes, was keyed mostly by Sula's running.

"That's Carson football, baby," Sula said "We, like, juice the clock and keep moving the chains. When we need a pass, Dominique made the plays."

Moments later after a Harvard-Westlake touchdown cut Carson's lead to 18-15, junior Austin Dotson put the game away with an electrifying 90-yard kickoff return, which extended the Colts lead to 24-15 with five minutes remaining and the Colts defense did the rest.