Facing Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea inside a week – a run any side would find an extreme test – and earning two wins and a battling draw cannot be considered anything other than a positive return but Arsenal may be left feeling they could have done even better.
After superb performances in beating rivals Spurs before dispatching Bayern at the Emirates, Sunday’s match with Chelsea was always going to be difficult with recovery time limited.
And preparations were further hit with key centre-back William Saliba ruled out with a knock picked up in training – the France international set for more tests.
Given that context, a 1-1 draw secured through Mikel Merino’s header to leave the Gunners five points clear at the top of the table is far from a poor result. But having seen his side play against 10 men for the majority of the match following Moises Caicedo’s red card, manager Mikel Arteta also admitted an opportunity to extend the lead further had been missed.
“It’s been a big week, starting with the derby,” he said. ” Then to play Bayern Munich three days later [and] we lost players in those games.
“Today, for example, we had to play a partnership [in defence] that we never played before in a really difficult match.
“The captain is still not here (Martin Odegaard), the nine is still not here (Viktor Gyokeres), Kai (Havertz) is still not here, We lost Leo (Trossard) in midweek as well, But the team had to react to that.”
Odegaard and Gyokeres did come off the bench for the Gunners in the second half at Chelsea.
“I think overall it’s been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense,” added Arteta.
“But I have this flavour that today we should have and we could have won the game and we haven’t. That’s a learning point from it.”
Great Britain earned their first win of the 2027 Fiba World Cup qualifiers with a 90-82 victory over Iceland.
GB were beaten on the buzzer in an 89-88 defeat by Lithuania in their Group D opener last Thursday but were much more in control against the Icelanders at the Laugardalsholl in Reykjavik.
The scores had been level at 17-17 at the end of a competitive first quarter between two sides separated by just three places in the Fiba rankings with GB 43rd to Iceland’s 46th.
However, GB seized the initiative and had an 18-point cushion at 69-51 heading into the final quarter.
Iceland reduced the deficit to eight points with one minute 47 seconds left on the clock, but GB held their nerve after a timeout to kill the home side’s hopes of a late fightback.
Carl Wheatle led the way for GB with a game-high 22 points while Myles Hesson and Quinn Ellis chipped in with 17 and 16 respectively.
Martin Hermannsson top scored for Iceland with 18 points while Tryggvi Hlinason collected 17.
All four teams in the group will face each other twice in the first round of the qualifiers before the top three qualify for the next stage.
The Lakers (14-4) are playing the first of two games in as many nights at home. They host the Phoenix Suns on Monday, which will be the team’s third game in four days after a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Playing in just his fourth game of the season, James played 34 minutes in the 129-119 win, scoring 13 points with seven assists. He missed the beginning of the season for the first time in his 23-year NBA career because of right sciatica that sidelined him for 14 games.
Despite James’ limited time, the Lakers have still thrived behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic leads the NBA in scoring with 35.1 points per game. The dynamic duo combined for 72 points in Friday’s win, led by 38 points on 12-for-15 shooting from Reaves. The Lakers guard scored 31 points in the team’s first matchup against the Pelicans, a 118-104 win on Nov. 15 in New Orleans.
The Pelicans (3-17) have the worst record in the Western Conference. The Lakers need James for the tougher matchup against the Suns (12-9) on Monday before playing in Toronto on Thursday, the first game of a three-game East Coast road trip.
The Lakers will also be without guard Marcus Smart (back spasms) for the second consecutive game.
In a matter of weeks, Ventura High football coach Tim Garcia will help move his son, quarterback Derek Garcia, into the dorms at Nevada Las Vegas. They’re having one last hurrah, and the memories are going to be priceless.
On Saturday night, Ventura won the Southern Section Division 6 football championship with a 63-28 win over St. Pius X-St. Matthias. It means Ventura’s season keeps going with next week’s state regional playoffs to be announced on Sunday.
Derek passed for 288 yards and one touchdown. Dad was also happy that running back James Watson had 247 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Earlier this week at the championship luncheon, the Garcias were smiling even though the coach/son role will soon be ending at Ventura. It’s a rite of passage leaving the nest for the son to explore the world.
Derek is thankful he’s had his father at his side for four years of fun and excitement, and what a way to celebrate with a Southern Section championship and maybe even more.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Crystal Palace manger Oliver Glasner believes the club should have spent more in the summer given their European commitments, arguing that January is too late to bolster his squad.
The most important college football story in these parts is about the downtrodden program from Westwood and whether it will leave its dump of a stadium in Pasadena.
UCLA’s incompetence has overshadowed every team in this market outside of the Dodgers and Lakers, and that includes USC.
Which speaks to where USC stands right now.
The Trojans have become afterthoughts in a market they once owned, and they only have themselves to blame.
The 17th-ranked team in the country, the Trojans are by no means a bad team.
They’re something worse.
They’re stuck.
USC coach Lincoln Riley congratulates tight end Walker Lyons after a successful two-point conversion attempt against UCLA at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
USC literally can’t afford to buy out coach Lincoln Riley’s contract, which means that until further notice the Trojans will be known as the team that’s good enough to not embarrass itself but not good enough to reach the College Football Playoff.
In this particular time in this particular market, that pushes USC to the margins of Los Angeles’ congested sporting landscape.
About to complete his fourth season with the Trojans, Riley seems to be aware of the perception of his program, or at very least what this market expects of a program defined by championships.
“I understand Los Angeles is a place where people aren’t going to show up just because,” he said. “You have to win. You have to give them something. And when you do, there’s no sports town better.”
Riley pointed to the packed Coliseum on Saturday night as evidence the Trojans were doing something right. Almost 70,000 tickets were distributed for the UCLA game.
The loyalty of USC’s fans, however, shouldn’t be mistaken for excitement. In the eyes of the program’s most fervent supporters, the team has underachieved.
Riley talked up the Trojans’ 7-0 home record, which included victories over Michigan and Iowa, but the truth is that the season will be defined by the games that weren’t won.
The loss at Illinois.
The loss at Notre Dame.
The loss at Oregon, which effectively knocked USC out of CFP contention.
As a program that defines itself by championships, the Trojans measure success on a binary scale. They’re either competing for a national title or they’re not. These Trojans aren’t.
Riley made the case that this season helped establish a foundation on which future teams will be built.
“This year was better than last year, and then next year is going to be better, even better than this, just going to keep growing and growing,” he said.
USC backup quarterback Gage Roy leaps into the arms of offensive lineman Tobias Raymond after Roy completed a two-point conversion pass against UCLA at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
He’s made similar statements before, and USC’s fans are still waiting for the return to glory that he promised.
By now, words alone won’t convince many people about the program’s future. Riley will have to deliver results, and he will have to deliver them soon.
The team Riley will coach next season will look a lot like the team he coached this season but almost certainly without receiver Makai Lemon. No. 2 receiver Ja’Kobi Lane could also declare for the NFL draft.
As much as Riley spoke about USC’s improved physicality, the Trojans couldn’t stop the run in any of their three defeats, which raises legitimate concerns about whether he will be able to address the problem in the coming months.
The Trojans will welcome the country’s top-rated recruiting class, but how many freshmen could they realistically count on to produce right away?
Ryan Kartje, the Times’ USC beat reporter, wrote a story last week about a situation at quarterback involving starter Jayden Maiava and five-star freshman Husan Longstreet. Kartje raised the possibility of Longstreet entering the transfer portal if Maiava returns for his senior season.
In another time or place, this would be a major story. That’s basically Riley’s job now, to return USC’s profile to where the next quarterback controversy is front-page news. The Trojans aren’t close to that at the moment.
In midweek, they were also knocked out of the Count Antrim Shield, going down 4-1 at home to Cliftonville which ended a three-game unbeaten run.
“Ballymena United Football Club can confirm that the club has parted company with first team manager Jim Ervin, this morning,” the club confirmed in a statement.
“The board would like to put on record their upmost thanks to Jim and his staff for their efforts and support during his two and a half years at the Showgrounds.
“Jim will always be remembered as a legendary player for the club, and as manager for successfully guiding Ballymena United through one of the most challenging periods of our recent history.
“The club will now commence the recruitment process for the next first team manager.”
Current U20 manager Ciaran Caldwell will step in as interim boss with Patrick McEleney and Sean O’Neill assisting him for Tuesday’s BetMcLean Cup quarter-final against Larne.
By midweek, as a handful of reporters watched his every move, Nico Iamaleava looked like someone on the verge of the offseason, not a rivalry game.
In the early stages of practice Wednesday, the UCLA quarterback threw one pass softly before shifting into observer mode for the rest of the open viewing period.
Three days later, as thousands of probing eyes watched his every move, Iamaleava was slinging passes with considerably more zip.
His efficiency in completing one pass after another against No. 17 USC on Saturday helped the Bruins take a halftime lead, silencing a Coliseum crowd and triggering a brouhaha between the teams on one corner of the field as they headed for the tunnel.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) scampers for a first down against USC at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
It was the kind of moment Iamaleava had dreamed of growing in Long Beach and attending the cross-town rivalry as a kid.
“Meant a lot, man,” Iamaleava said of being able to compete against the Trojans.
But in keeping with the trajectory of a down-and-up-and-down-again season, the dream ended amid a flurry of sacks and failed third- and fourth-down conversions. There was no way Iamaleava could grit his way to victory, the Bruins eventually succumbing during a 29-10 loss to the Trojans in which their quarterback was sacked four times — all in the second half.
And so a season that started with Iamaleava being the talk of the college football world after his contentious departure from Tennessee ended with him taking a solitary walk up the Coliseum tunnel toward an uncertain future.
“It was a great learning year for me,” Iamaleava said after completing 27 of 38 passes for 200 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against the Trojans. “You know, a lot of firsts for me throughout the season. Just the way we started off, and then dealing with little, minor injuries, there’s a lot. And I think, man, it just showed that I’m willing to go out there and put my life on the line for my teammates, man, whatever is needed.”
Iamaleava showed many sides in fighting to the end of a 3-9 season. There was accountability, Iamaleava facing reporters after every loss. There was leadership, Iamaleava telling teammates that if they wanted to leave amid the dismissal of their head coach and the departure of their offensive coordinator, go ahead. Nobody did.
Over the last few weeks, there was resolve, Iamaleava coming back from one injury after another. He missed only one game after sustaining a concussion against Nebraska and sat out only a few practices after taking a crunching hit against Washington last weekend that led to neck spasms.
“Every day he got better and better,” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said, “and then today he went out there and gave it his all, so I love that kid, he’s a battler. He fought and he kept leading us all the way to the end. … He’s a tough dude, man, and he’s a competitor. That’s what I’ll say about him.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 29, 2025: Southern California Trojans linebacker Eric Gentry (18) tackles UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) for a loss in the second half at the Coliseum on November 29, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
For more than a half, it appeared that Iamaleava might go down in rivalry lore.
Orchestrating a short, efficient passing attack, Iamaleava pulled UCLA into a 7-7 tie early in the second quarter when he found wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer for a two-yard touchdown on a crossing route.
Then came a rarity from someone usually happy to absorb contact as the Bruins drove for a go-ahead score. On third-and-seven at the Trojans’ 26-yard line, Iamaleava scrambled before sliding into a ferocious hit from cornerback Alex Graham.
Coming up a yard short of the first down, Iamaleava tried to draw USC offsides with a hard count on fourth down before kicker Mateen Bhaghani trotted onto the field for a 38-yard field goal.
Little went Iamaleava’s way during the second half. One third down ended in an eight-yard sack. Another fell short on a pass that was broken up.
Things somehow deteriorated further. With UCLA having fallen behind 21-10 and clinging to faint hopes midway through the fourth quarter, the Bruins faced a fourth-and-15 at USC’s 45-yard line. A short pass to Gilmer went for only 10 yards.
Drive over. Game over.
That left Iamaleava to contemplate his future. Back in late July, he acknowledged wanting to go to the NFL if he put together a successful season. It was hard to say if this qualified after he finished the season completing 64.4% of his passes for 1,928 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
What’s next?
“I haven’t really even thought about that, man,” Iamaleava said. “I’m right here where my feet are, man. You know, we just lost a tough game and my mind is still on that one — what we could have done better to go out there and win that game.”
After answering a final question, Iamaleava glanced at a bottle of orange sports drink in front of him on a table.
“Can I have this?” he asked.
Granted permission to take the bottle, he grabbed it, rose from his seat and walked out the back of the interview tent, the offseason finally having arrived.
David Puig became the first Spanish winner of the Australian PGA Championship since Seve Ballesteros in 1981 with a two-shot victory in Brisbane.
The 23-year-old, who also competes on the LIV Golf Tour, carded a bogey-free five-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to claim his first DP World Tour title on 18 under.
It is Puig’s third title as a professional after two wins on the Asian Tour in 2023 and 2024. His previous best on the DP World Tour was third at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in January.
“It feels amazing,” said Puig, who finished 10th in the 2025 Liv Golf Rankings. “I’ve really had a lot of close calls in a few events throughout this year and last year and I wasn’t able to pull it through.
“I was pretty nervous, especially thinking about the past a little bit, what I could have done a little better. But I kept my composure really well.”
As well as emulating legendary compatriot Ballesteros, Puig is also the first European winner since England’s David Howell in 1998.
China’s Ding Wenyi also carded a final-round 66 to finish second on 16 under, with Australian Marc Leishman and New Zealand’s Nick Voke tied for third one shot further back.
Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia began the final day as joint-leader but struggled to a one-over 72 to finish tied for eighth with Australian Daniel Gale.
The Rams currently hold the top seed for the NFC playoffs. Now their greatest challenge might be shutting out the distraction of being deemed a favorite to win the Super Bowl.
“Humility is only a day away,” coach Sean McVay said. “Our guys understand that.”
On Sunday the Rams will play a potential trap game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers are 6-6 and coming off a 20-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Panthers are the Rams’ third NFC South opponent. The Rams already dispatched the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They play the struggling Falcons on Dec. 29 in Atlanta.
The Rams are 10-point favorites over the Panthers — and with good reason.
They have won six games in a row and scored at least 34 points in four of their last five games, including their 34-7 victory over the Buccaneers last Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
The Panthers feature quarterback Bryce Young, the top pick in the 2023 draft. Young has passed for 15 touchdowns with nine interceptions for a team that counts victories over the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys among its wins.
Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and outside linebackers coach AC Carter are former Rams assistants. The roster includes seven former Rams: defensive linemen Bobby Brown III and A’Shawn Robinson, offensive lineman Austin Corbett, cornerbacks Robert Rochell and David Long, linebacker Christian Rozeboom and safety Nick Scott.
There have been so many big days for this group of Slaughtneil hurlers with 13-straight Derry titles and now a sixth Ulster crown.
Of course, there have been disappointments on the provincial stage along the way too and O’Doherty says they have made victories like Saturday’s all the sweeter.
“Mark [McGuigan, captain] alluded to it in his speech – these are special days for the club and something we don’t take for granted,” he continued.
“That’s shown in our hunger and desire, year after year. We lose games and have setbacks, but we always bounce back up again and days like this are so special, so worth it.”
Slaughtneil now have an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway’s Loughrea to look forward to with the game pencilled in for Saturday, 20 December.
Last year, they fell agonisingly short when losing out to Sarsfield’s of Cork by one point, so the ambition now turns to taking the next step and reaching a final for the first time.
“Last year hurt us a lot – there’s no point saying any different,” O’Doherty acknowledged.
“We thought we had a great chance and we did but for whatever reason we didn’t get over the line.
“We are exactly where we want to be now. [We’ve] three weeks to prepare for a massive battle in another All-Ireland semi-final – what else would you want coming up to Christmas?”
Somehow, someway, Los Alamitos is your Southern Section Division 2 football champion. A team of overachievers filled with a roster of best friends combined chemistry, determination and toughness to overcome all odds.
Saturday night before an overflow crowd at San Clemente High, the Griffins recorded seven sacks and took advantage of one of the strangest touchdowns scored by a lineman to beat the Tritons 33-20. This same Los Alamitos team lost to San Clemente 28-9 in a league game on Oct. 24.
“I’m not smart enough to articulate how I feel and how proud I am of these guys,” said Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton, who was hugging one player after another.
Los Alamitos (12-2) received a sensational performance from quarterback Colin Creason, who completed his final 13 passes and combined with the Griffins’ strong running back tandem of Kamden Tillis and Lenny Ibarra to generate enough offensive firepower to end San Clemente’s five-game winning streak and deliver the Griffins their first championship since 2002.
The game changed on consecutive plays late in the third quarter after San Clemente took a 20-17 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Ethan Miller. Creason completed a shovel pass to tight end Beckham Hofland inside the five-yard line, but he fumble the ball. It went off the leg of a San Clemente defender and was picked up by offensive guard Luke Wehner, a rugby player who knew exactly what to do to score his first high school touchdown — run toward the goal line. He went seven yards for a 24-20 lead.
“I was so scared,” Hofland said.
Said Wehner: “I was not expecting that at all.”
Then Los Alamitos forced a San Clemente fumble on the next offensive play that was recovered by Hunter Eligon. Tillis scored a 22-yard touchdown for a 30-20 lead. The momentum and the game had switched to Los Alamitos.
Individuals kept stepping forward to deliver big moments for the Griffins. Jackson Renger had two of his team’s seven sacks. Hofland had a 24-yard touchdown catch and two field goals. Tillis rushed for 141 yards. The versatile Ibarra had an interception, a 65-yard punt and rushed for 99 yards. And Los Alamitos’ offensive line kept creating opportunities for Creason and the running backs.
The first half ended in a 17-17 deadlock when Hofland made a touchdown catch for Los Alamitos with 39 seconds left. San Clemente had opened a 17-3 lead behind Jaxson Rex, who had a 25-yard catch, forced a fumble and made an interception. Colin Granite scored two touchdowns on short runs.
Los Alamitos’ no-huddle, up-tempo offense started to cause problems for San Clemente’s defense. Tillis had 100 yards rushing at halftime while Creason had 156 yards passing.
Los Alamitos won the Southern Section Division 2 championship with a 33-20 win over San Clemente.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Los Alamitos started the season 8-0, then lost to San Clemente and Mission Viejo in consecutive Alpha League games. The Griffins regrouped and never stopped believing in themselves. They are expected to face San Diego Section champion Cathedral Catholic in a state playoff game next weekend.
What is it really like behind-the-scenes at a big boxing event?
With boxing back on BBC linear television after 20 years, we were given exclusive access to fight night, from pre-fight preparations, to ringwalks, a ringside view and dressing room celebrations with the teams.
Carson proved that on Saturday night in the City Section Open Division championship game, scoring five touchdowns in a 7:05 span of the second quarter to produce a 36-0 shutout of Crenshaw at Southwest College.
After a scoreless first quarter, Zach Brock broke several tackles on a 12-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, opening the floodgates for the No. 1-seeded Colts (10-3).
Chris Fields III connected with Royal Moore on a 46-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion made it 15-0 at the 7:32 mark. Darren Panton returned a punt 28 yards for another touchdown with 6:20 left in the stanza and recovered a fumble at the Crenshaw 22 two plays later, setting up Craig Walker’s reverse that made it 29-0. Panton ended the scoring barrage with a 23-yard interception return 4:46 before halftime.
“We saw in the first quarter that they were overly aggressive and if we gave them a fake, they’d bite on it,” said Fields, who completed eight of 15 passes for 147 yards with an interception and ran seven times for 38 yards. “I just took advantage of what the defense gave me. Darren’s punt return sealed the deal.”
Carson sacked Cougars quarterback Danniel Flowers four times in the first half — two of those by end Kingston Sula and one each by Derric Myers and Xavier Allen — and forced him into several other hurried throws. Flowers, who made several clutch throws in the semifinals at Birmingham, was held to four-of-10 passing for 37 yards in the first half Saturday while running back Joshua Jones had 11 yards in five carries by intermission.
Carson High receiver Royal Moore sprints down the sideline on his way to a 46-yard touchdown against Crenshaw in the City Section Open Division final Saturday night.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Eric Myers finished with 88 yards in 18 carries to keep the chains moving for the Colts, who claimed their 12th City crown and first since winning Division I in 2003 under coach John Aguirre, who later became City Section commissioner.
Carson moved to within one of second-place Banning on the all-time titles list. Manual Arts holds the record with 17.
“This is a testament to these kids and how hard they work,” first-year coach William Lowe said. “They have good practice habits on the field and in the weight room and are mentally tough. Any play can win or lose a game and when good things happen we try to build on that.”
The sixth-seeded Cougars (10-2) were vying for their seventh City title since 1991. Terrence Whitehead has served as interim head coach all season in the absence of longtime coach Robert Garrett (the winningest football coach in section history with 300 wins to his credit), who is on administrative leave.
“Chris has grown in leaps and bounds,” Lowe said of Fields. “I credit all of my coaches. Our defensive alignment allows the kids to play fast and physical and we were battle-tested despite some tough losses early in the year.”
Match of the Day pundits Joe Hart and Danny Murphy analyse Guglielmo Vicario’s mistake for Tottenham that allowed Fulham’s Harry Wilson to produce “a piece of art” and increase the pressure on Spurs manager Thomas Frank.
Nicholas Fonseca snared a tipped ball in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown on an untimed down as South Gate pulled out a miraculous 63-58 victory over Marquez in the City Section Division I final Saturday at Southwest College.
Marquez had taken a 58-57 lead on a one-yard sneak by Angelo Gutierrez and his subsequent two-point conversion pass to Elyjah Staples with six seconds left. After a fair catch, South Gate took over at its 46 and when Anthony Ford intercepted a pass the Gladiators began celebrating, thinking they had won. However, a pass interference penalty advanced the ball to the Marquez 39 and gave the Rams one last gasp with zeros on the clock.
Quarterback Michael Gonzalez rolled to his right to buy time and launched a pass into a maze of players in the end zone. The jump ball was tipped by two defenders into the waiting arms of Fonseca, who calmly grabbed it out of midair — shocking even his own teammates.
The winning touchdown pass from QB Michael Gonzalez to WR Nicholas Quintanilla that gave South Gate a City Division I championship. Courtesy Intescholastic Films. pic.twitter.com/suuBvjKxEF
“I said to myself I’m not going to go up for the ball, I’m not that tall. … I’m gonna wait for it to come down and that’s what happened,” said Fonseca, who had 10 catches for 152 and two touchdowns and also scored on a six-yard run.
“I seen it coming, I saw them hit it down but it went right into my hands and I caught it. This is one of the most special moments of my life!”
Gonzalez completed 26 of 34 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Ephaunie Lewis had 10 receptions for 193 yards and three scores — the last a three-yard lob from Gonzalez with 52 seconds left, immediately followed by Fonseca’s two-point run to put South Gate up 57-50.
Marquez tailback Gilberto Cisneros drags Rams defender Jordan Olivares to the goal line in the second quarter Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Nicholas Quintanilla returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score that pulled the second-seeded Rams (11-3) even and his 39-yard touchdown catch gave South Gate its first lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 90 yards and rushed five times for 54 yards.
The teams combined for six touchdowns in a wild fourth quarter.
Angelo Gutierrez-Molina threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, Marcus Juan ran for 113 yards and one touchdown in 15 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards. He raced 68 yards on a hook and lateral to give the fifth-seeded Gladiators (11-3) a 50-49 lead with 1:57 left.
Gilberto Cisneros added 84 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries and Staples had four catches for 129 yards and one touchdown.
“Never give up!” coach Francisco Saldana shouted before raising the trophy
South Gate lost to Chatsworth 38-36 on a field goal with no time left in the Division II final last year — one of the most bizarre endings in City playoff history.
“On the last play my coach told me to run a corner route to the pylon,” Fonseca said. “Last year we were up late and it bit us. This time we came through and it feels great.”
South Gate captured its third City title and first since winning the 3A Division in 1988 under Gary Cordray.
Match of the Day’s Joe Hart analyses how Phil Foden made the Etihad Stadium “his dancefloor”, scoring twice – including a late winner – in Manchester City’s 3-2 victory against Leeds United.
