The Torrance de South Torrance and Peninsula Football teams met on Friday and the two teams have had subpar seasons so far, but the game proved to be close.
The South, on the back of a three-touchdown performance from Carson Hollandsworth, would prevail 28-21.
The first quarter was an emotional process for both the teams with the visiting Panthers scoring first late in the quarter. Quarterback AJ Mays took the ball to the middle and into the end zone, but a blocked extra point gave it a 6–0 lead.
Shortly after, South took the field and took the lead at the start of the second quarter, thanks to a touchdown pass to Matt Espinoza’s Caleb Kerekes.
Later in the second quarter, Hollandsworth extended the lead for the Spartans with a scalper in the middle for a touchdown. Things were looking good for the Spartans, but the Panthers didn’t give up so quickly. They began to field late in the half, but the south defense stepped up and intercepted the mess in the end zone to maintain the lead at halftime.
The Spartans would then take the opening possession of the third quarter and march it down the field again, ending with Hollandsworth leading the ball 21-6 on a straight snap in the end zone.
But, once again, the Panthers did not go down quietly. After forcing the Spartans to go for three more outs, the Panthers put pressure on the punt and muffed it and recovered at the line of scrimmage and were taken to the two-yard line.
Mason Gonzales would make it to the end zone and, after a two-point conversion, was 21-14. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Panthers would tie the game 21-21 with another mess touchdown on the field.
Coach David Young was praised for his tandem in the backfield.
“AJ (Mass) did a great job for us tonight,” Young said. “Mason (Gonzalez) was able to fight for us and push the pace for us.”
However, South had Hollandsworth, and he put the team on his back in the third touchdown of the night to give the Spartans the lead.
The defense was eventually able to stop Mace and Gonzales and eventually sealed victory for the Spartans.
“Carson is a leader, he’s calm, but he gets ahead of how hard he works,” South coach Matt Mishler said. “We challenged her to step up this week, and she did it tonight.”
