The dominant rushing attack that earned them four lopsided wins to start the season was more methodical than punishing, but Cleveland High still ground out a 24-18 nonleague victory Friday over host Crenshaw.
The Cavaliers improved to 5-0 with the win, while the Cougars fell to 4-2.
Cleveland, which entered the game averaging 258 yards rushing per game, were held to barely more than 200 on Friday, most of them scored by senior running back Moyosoreoluwa Odebunmi, who rushed for two scores.
The loss spoiled the season debut of Crenshaw’s Ethan Grant. The transfer from Los Angeles High threw two touchdowns in his first game for the Cougars, but a fumble in the end zone erased one potential score, and three consecutive dropped passes on Crenshaw’s final drive of the game prevented a comeback.
Crenshaw dominated early, Caden Baker stripping the ball from Odebunmi near midfield on Cleveland’s first possession and scoring on the 50-yard fumble return. On the Cougars’ next possession, Grant threaded a pass through two Cavalier defenders, finding Kyion Rattler for an apparent 55-yard score. But Rattler fumbled right before crossing the goal line, turning the ball over That’s when Odebunmi reeled off his best run of the night, a 58-yarder down the right sideline, to tie the score 6-6.
After Grant’s 60-yard score to Rattler put the Cougars up 12-6, Cleveland drove 80 yards in 12 plays, keyed by three completions by quarterback Domenik Fuentes and punctuated by Joseph Hurtado’s one-yard touchdown run. After the two-point conversion, Cleveland led 14-12.
Three plays later, Crenshaw took the lead again on a 21-yard strike from Grant to Joshua Jones. But the Cougars failed on their third two-point conversion of the first half, which ended with them leading 18-14.
Neither offense did much in the second half after Cleveland scored on its first play from scrimmage, a 32-yard touchdown by Odebunmi. Crenshaw was limited to two first downs in the second half while Cleveland added a safety by Cobe Green early in the fourth quarter to make the score 24-18.
“First half we shot ourselves in the foot a good number of times” Cleveland coach Mario Guzman said. “Our biggest thing is we want to play disciplined and we were a little undisciplined in that first half. So we challenged ourselves at halftime to get back to our roots, to be disciplined, physical and fast. And we really rose to the occasion in the second.”