October 30, 2014 Page 5 Hawthorne Can’t Keep Up With El Segundo By Joe Snyder Photos by Joe Snyder After winning its first Ocean League football game over Beverly Hills on October 17, Hawthorne High’s football team had an extremely stiff homecoming challenge from premiere El Segundo team that was unbeaten and ranked second in the CIF-Southern Section Western Division last Friday. The Cougars started out doing everything they could in an attempt to pull off a major upset but the Eagles eventually proved overwhelming with a 67-21 rout. In the opening kickoff, Jamaal Neal quickly opened things off as Hawthorne took an early 7-0 lead with his 95-yard kickoff return. El Segundo came back to take a 14-7 lead but, midway in the second quarter, Paris McDaniel raced 63 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14 for the Cougars, who fell to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in league. From there, the Eagles (8-0, 3-0) dominated and scored their machine didn’t stop until right before the end of the game. El Segundo finished off the first half by scoring three TD’s in a period of just over three minutes for a 34-14 halftime bulge, behind the arm of highly prospect quarterback Lars Nootbar. He threw touchdown passes of 34 and 35 yards to Taz Tauaese and seven to Miguel Wagner-Bagues. The second half saw the Eagles add two more TDs before Hawthorne scored its final touchdown with four seconds into the fourth period on a two-yard quarterback keeper from Marte Mape. El Segundo’s two third quarter scores were a 92-yard run by Wagner- Bagues and Nootbar’s third touchdown pass to Jackson Walz from 25 yards out. The Eagles finished added three more TD’s in the fourth period on a 15-yard run by Tauaese, a 45-yard fumble recovery from linebacker Dwayne Polk and a four-yard run by Wagner-Bagues with 41 seconds left. “El Segundo made the CIF (Northwest Division) finals last year,” Hawthorne head coach Donald Paysinger said. “They are very good. We’ll be all right.” McDaniel had a good game rushing for 218 yards and one touchdown. Nootbar, who plans to go to University of Southern California but most likely for baseball even though he had offers for football, completed 11 of 22 passes for 288 yards and three TD’s. Wagner-Bagues rushed for 207 yards on 18 carries. “We had to deal with a couple of injuries,” El Segundo head coach Steve Shevlin said. “Hawthorne came out great early. It was a test for us. We were hit with penalties. We had two touchdowns called back.” The Cougars hope for a good opportunity to get two league wins for the first time in 10 years as they host winless Culver City Friday at 7 p.m. The Centaurs appeared to have a promising season until losing seven top players who transferred to other schools and have been left with a mostly young and inexperienced squad. Hawthorne has not beaten Culver since the 1990’s but hope this will be the year. At Culver last Friday, the Centaurs (0-3 in Ocean play) were humiliated by Santa Monica 49-0. El Segundo could have a showdown at home against Lawndale Friday at 7 p.m. This could be a good match between top quarterbacks Nootbar and the Cardinals’ Chris Murray. At Beverly Hills last Friday, Lawndale rolled over the Normans 47-7. Cardinals Rout Normans Junior quarterback Chris Murray continued to prove dominant with 251 total yards as Lawndale High’s football team improved to 3-0 in the Pioneer League and 5-3 overall with a 47-7 rout of host Beverly Hills last Friday. Murray passed for 142 yards and rushed for 111 more that including beginning the Cardinals’ scoring with a 72-yard run early in the second quarter. Murray passed for two TDs and ran for two more. Darious Flowers returned an interception for a touchdown. Joe Kolko scored the Normans’ only TD on a five-yard run. This sets the stage for the league showdown at El Segundo Friday at 7 p.m. as the Cardinals will be tested against a very balanced Eagle squad led by premiere quarterback Lars Nootbar and running back-wide receiver Miguel Wagner-Bagues. Inglewood Edges Mira Costa Inglewood High’s football team picked up its first Bay League win by upsetting Mira Costa 22-21 last Friday at Coleman Stadium. The Sentinels (2-6, 1-2) won when quarterback Kindric Johnson scored on a oneyard quarterback keeper with three seconds remaining. Zabayr Muhammed also had a 57-yard scoring run for Inglewood. Inglewood hopes to keep its hope for a CIF-Southern Section Western Division playoff spot alive as it hosts Peninsula Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers (3-5, 1-2) are coming off a 40-7 home loss to Redondo last Friday. Leuzinger Falls to South Leuzinger High’s football team had a good offensive game but its defense was unable to hold down host South Torrance in a 49- 31 Pioneer League loss last Friday. Nathan Vaughn sparked the Olympians with two touchdowns; one on an 85-yard kickoff return and the other on a 62-yard pass reception from quarterback Edwin Santos. Andrian Galera had a 22-yard TD run and freshman Loren Bowen scored on a two-yard run. South quarterback Gabe Zuniga passed for two touchdowns and Cameron Dillon ran for an 89-yard TD. Leuzinger hosts North Torrance Friday at 7 p.m. The Saxons are 5-3 overall and 2-1 in Pioneer action after topping Torrance 23-15 last Friday at North. • Hawthorne High’s Marte Mape attempts to pass during last Friday’s Ocean League football game against El Segundo. The Cougars were routed by the Eagles 67-21. The Cougars host Culver City Friday at 7 p.m.. Hawthorne ballcarrier Paris McDaniel runs upfield in the clear in last Friday’s Ocean League football game against El Segundo. The Eagles rolled over the Cougars 67-21.
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