Carson nullifies Narbonne

Colts' defense shines while Sula grinds down the Gauchos' defense with 151 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 24-7 Marine League victory. Showdown with San Pedro is next.

By Bob Holtzman
Daily Breeze

Carson is still learning and growing as a football team under first-year coach Mike Christensen, but on Friday night, the Colts showed they've already got the winning part down.

Host Carson overcame a pair of first-half turnovers and stayed on the ground for most of the game, but also got one of its best defensive efforts of the season in a 24-7 Marine League victory over Narbonne.

Running back Jack Sula rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries to help Carson (5-2, 2-0) set up a showdown next week with San Pedro (7-0, 2-0) with serious league title implications.

Sula's best run was his 43-yard touchdown, which came on a counter play where linemen Sean Enesi and Matt Hunt made a great block that had line coaches raving on the sideline. Sula finished it with some nifty moves in the secondary.

"I just read the hole and saw a couple dudes over-play it," Sula said. "I saw the cutback and I took it."

"It seems like teams are not respecting our run game," Carson quarterback Dominique Blackman said. "We have the best line and running back in the (L.A.) City (Section). So when the coaches ask me what I think, I'm like, 'Man, keep pounding it.'

"We could have ran our bootlegs like we did against Banning, but Jack deserved this. It was his turn. As long as we can keep getting W's, I'm fine. I just want a Marine League championship and go into the City playoffs building off of this."

Narbonne struggled to move the ball most of the game. The Gauchos (3-4, 1-1) gained just 148 yards on offense. Quarterback Josh Moten finished 4-for-14 for 65 yards with two interceptions. Narbonne went three-and-out on five of its 10 possessions.

"We practiced real hard on defense this week," said Sula, who also plays linebacker. "We studied their offense all week and we studied it to a 'T'. "

What might be more impressive was Sula's reaction to the one drive Carson's defense failed to stop. Narbonne scored in the third quarter to close the gap to 21-7 with a solid nine-play, 80-yard drive. Eveian Grigsby scored on a 1-yard run.

"We should have had control of the whole game," Sula said. "They shouldn't have scored at all."

Even Christensen accepted Narbonne's touchdown. But he didn't appreciate a pair of Carson turnovers in the first half or the Colts' seven penalties.

"We missed some opportunities in the first half and had some turnovers, which we haven't really done this year except for the loss to Harvard-Westlake," Christensen said. "We played well in the first half, but left some points on the field."

It didn't matter. Carson scored on its first drive and never really seemed threatened by Narbonne.

"We were in control the whole way," Christensen said. "And that's something we want to have happen."

Blackman, who finished 5-for-9 for 57 yards with an interception and 14-yard touchdown pass to Ken McRoyal, was enjoying the win afterward. He had lost to Narbonne when he was the quarterback at Gardena the past two years and remembered last year's loss well.

"Last year, I was crying," Blackman said. "Oh, that was a bad feeling. It's nice to finally beat Narbonne."