Marcus Martin, who was a giant All-City lineman during Crenshaw High’s City Section championship football seasons of 2009 and 2010 before moving on to USC, then the NFL, stood on the sideline Thursday looking straight into the eyes of four Crenshaw lineman as the sun was beginning to go down in Gardena. The scoreboard clock was running nonstop in mercy mode in the fourth quarter with Gardena ahead 52-0.
Martin, serving as a Crenshaw assistant coach for a team playing with 19 players in its first game of the season, was doing some teaching.
“Whatever happens, I’m proud of you,” he told the linemen. “We did the best we can. Don’t hold your head down. Hold it up.”
Yes, there is a way forward for the once powerful Crenshaw Cougars. They have a strong coaching staff, headed by coach Robert Garrett, in his 37th season. But the small roster of players combined with playing the defending Marine League champions was always going to lead to a running clock. That’s how much more skilled the Panthers are.
Gardena (2-0) has one of the best running backs in the City Section in senior Xavier Grant, an Air Force commit who rushed for 117 yards in four carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 53 and 40 yards as the Panthers held a 45-0 halftime lead. At one point in the first half, Gardena scored touchdowns on four consecutive offensive plays.
Quarterback Isaiah Kim completed nine of 11 passes for 210 yards. He had two touchdown passes to D’Maj Longley (12 and 59 yards) and another to Akiah Brown (three yards). Myles Mason broke off touchdown runs of 48 and 11 yards. The whole second half was played with a running clock.
Gardena has a pair of tough, powerful defensive linemen in Shane Mailo and David Frankling. Crenshaw lost the ball twice on fumbles, with Frankling scoring on a 14-yard fumble recovery.
For those who have been following City Section football, it used to be Crenshaw as the power and Gardena finishing with back-to-back 0-10 seasons in 2016 and 2017. Monty Gilbreath, a former Taft receiver, took over as head coach in 2021, and has benefited by having a group of players who’ve played together since their youth days.
Gilbreath is having to balance coaching and going to see his son, Chaz, a standout junior receiver for Mayfair. “They really look out for my son,” he said.
What’s clear is that Crenshaw, which has an enrollment of 549 students, far down from the days over 2,000, is in teaching mode. Under Los Angeles Unified School District rules, teams have to have at least 18 players available to start games. Building up the roster has to be a priority.
Cougars quarterback Sir Rey Tyler-Matthews did his best under constant pressure. In the fourth quarter, he broke off a 32-yard run to the Gardena 12 before the drive stalled.
Crenshaw plays Hamilton next week while Gardena takes on Compton Centennial.
