LONG BEACH-Speed kills. You either have it or you don’t. In football, speed can be the difference in winning or losing. It is the ultimate equalizer. The Rancho Dominguez Prep football team might have thought it had turned the corner in its growth as an up and coming program after putting up a gritty performance against Gardena High School last week.
But going up against CIF Los Angeles City Section powerhouse Dorsey gave the Lobos a stark reminder of just how far they need to go to compete at the level of the Dons.
The first order of business is improving the team’s speed. The second mandate would be to load up on a few big-boned, nasty-hitting linemen not afraid to hit people in the mouth. A good helping of playing Division III opponents, as opposed to lining up a second-year football program like Rancho Dominguez Prep (1-5, 0-1) against Division I schools like Dorsey, would aid this cause as well.
As it was, the Lobos spent all night trying to chase a blur that resembled a football team, going down in defeat 39-0 on homecoming night. Dorsey and Crenshaw rule the Coliseum League.
In preparation for their Coliseum League showdown with the Cougars next week, the Dons opened league play with a resounding win on the road at Lobo Field, tapping into the team’s electric component of speed to do the damage.
That speed was display on the first play of the game when Dorsey scored on a long touchdown run by one of its plethora of talented running backs. Highly-recruited David Williams returned a punt for a touchdown and the rout was on. Dorsey (3-3, 1-0) is ranked No. 4 in the City Section’s Division I standings, behind No.3 Narbonne, No. 2 Venice and top-ranked Crenshaw.
After losing to Venice in the previous week, Dorsey coach Paul Knox said notching a win heading into the Crenshaw game is a definitely a positive step, considering the way his team has had an up-and-down season.
“We’ve played a really tough schedule, and we’ve played some really strong teams in the state of California,” Knox said. “Our efforts have been good. I think we competed hard. Hopefully, this is going to show up later in the season for us.”
The toughness of the early season schedule will come a lot sooner for Dorsey with the Dons’ annual game against crosstown rival Crenshaw this week.
“It’s a rivalry, it’s a big rivalry,” Knox said. “It doesn’t matter what the records of the teams are. Both us are playing for the pride of the community. The guys all know each other. They’ve known each other all their lives and are going to know each other the rest of their lives. So you get to brag, really, for the rest of your life, if you win that game.”
For Rancho Dominguez Prep, the Lobos hope to get their second win of the season when they take on West Adams Prep, a slight breather from going up against Division I foes after two straight weeks of facing Gardena and Dorsey.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.