It spilled onto the field when a halfback pass from Narbonne's Eddie Mendivil landed untouched after a wild, last-ditch lateral-filled play that served as Narbonne's last gasp.

Blackman and Co. charged to midfield where the Colts emphatically pointed at the Narbonne sideline and stands to end a bitter 35-31 Marine League-opening win over the Gauchos in a contest between two rivals who clearly don't like each other.

"There was a lot of emotion in this game," said Blackman, embroiled in controversy before the season after being suspended one game for breaking several team rules.

"They were talking a lot in the paper, about how they were better than us, how their quarterback is better than us. We wanted to come out and let the scoreboard do the talking."

Running back Melvin Davis had given Narbonne (5-1, 0-1) a 31-28 lead with 4:40 left, but Carson (4-2, 1-0) put together an inspiring drive.

Carson's final drive was sustained on a 2-yard run by Jack Sula on fourth-and-2 from the Carson 42 and an acrobatic 40-yard catch from Morrell Presley that gave Carson the ball at the Narbonne 8 with 1:13 left, setting up Blackman's play.

Two plays later, Blackman sealed the win. He said the play was originally designed for Sula. But Blackman said Sula told him to take it himself if there was an opportunity.

"When he said that, I told the team to let's just get this over with and go home," Blackman said.

Said Sula: "I told him if he saw a gap, to take it. We didn't want to leave anything to chance. We gave up a 14-0 lead, and that's not something you're supposed to do. They fought hard, but we were able to finish it."

Sula gained 145 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Blackman was 7-for-16 for 106 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. But he had the biggest play of the night.

"They were running their mouths all week, but we just put it all down on the field," said Presley, a junior who has verbally committed to USC. "They've actually been talking about us since beating us in the summer passing league, but when we put the pads on, it was totally different.

"They played no one good in their (nonleague schedule), but they hyped their heads after going 5-0. We knew they couldn't handle our pressure."

Narbonne rallied from an early 14-0 deficit and had two fourth-quarter leads, and its last-minute gasp almost paid off.

With time for only two plays, quarterback Josh Moten hit Byron Moore for a 21-yard slant pass, and the Gauchos called time out with 2 seconds left from their own 44.

Narbonne then ran a play that featured four wild laterals before it ended up in the hands of Mendivil, who was Narbonne's starting quarterback two years ago as a sophomore.

Mendivil threw it downfield, but receiver Justin Bedford could not chase it down because he did not break the right away.

"If he kept running, I think he would've had it," said Mendivil, who had four catches for 111 yards and a TD. "We didn't make the big plays we needed, and good teams make those plays down the stretch."

Narbonne had penalties that extended three Carson drives, two of which resulted in touchdowns. Two were for unsportsmanlike conduct. The other, and most frustrating, was 12 men on the field after holding Carson to three-and-out on the opening series, leading to Kevin Lane's 7-yard scoring run.

Moten tried to shovel Narbonne out of its early hole - literally. He threw a 7-yard shovel pass to Chris Ervin and a 39-yard shovel pass to Mendivil.

Moten went 16-for-24 for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while adding 68 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Still, it didn't do much to absorb the sting of this loss.

"Of course this is rough -- we hate Carson," Narbonne lineman Eric Bender-Ramsay said. "Penalties killed us and our offense started slow, but we've already forgotten this game."

It's one Carson won't forget for a long time.