Right off in the opening week of league last week, a pecking order was established. 6-0 El Segundo had no trouble with lowly Beverly Hills (0-6) in a 35-6 victory. Lawndale confirmed their legitimacy with a 48-41 win over Culver City. It seemed like every time CC threatened, Lawndale all-star QB Chris Murray would come up with another big play and he had just enough big plays from his supporting cast to get it done. The big shocker of the week had to be Hawthorne (1-5), beating Santa Monica (0-6) 20-6. I had seen Hawthorne play once this year and knew they had some talent, but were trying to get by with a modest number of players on their roster. The decent of Santa Monica from perennial front runner in the Ocean League has been shocking. While we are only one week into league play, they are unlikely to recover based upon their performance last week against an only modestly improved Hawthorne. They have been unable to score more than 10 points in any one game this season.
This week:
Game of the Week in the Ocean League:
#3 Culver City at #1 El Segundo
CC has been improving offensively every week and achieved almost juggernaut status against a good Lawndale team. Their Achilles heel? Defense. Opponents have not scored less than 21 points in any one game against CC. This may be the most athletic team El Segundo has faced this season but ES is usually a crisp executing team under coach Steve Shevlin. CC will have to minimize their own mistakes, both turnovers and penalties, to have a chance in this one. That is the one way CC can beat ES, by not beating themselves.
Culver stays in the league race with a win, a loss probably relegates them to third and with the reputation of the Ocean league not that good, they could miss the playoffs because I don't believe they get an automatic selection from third place.
Next best game:
#6 Beverly Hills at #4 Hawthorne. This should be either a Hawthorne blowout or a hard fought victory for Hawthorne. Beverly Hills has not been able to generate any offense this season, scoring no more than 13 points in any one game and has not given up less than 35 but all of their competition has been comparable or better than Hawthorne.
The blowout:
#2 Lawndale at #5 Santa Monica
Before this season started, I would not have projected this game this way. Lawndale's Chris Murray was a known factor, but the demise of SM was not. Can anybody stop Chris Murray? We will not get that answer this week in terms of the Ocean League. He should have good numbers but with SM struggling, his supporting cast may also have big days. Perhaps Murray will get to sit out the 4th quarter.
This week:
Game of the Week in the Ocean League:
#3 Culver City at #1 El Segundo
CC has been improving offensively every week and achieved almost juggernaut status against a good Lawndale team. Their Achilles heel? Defense. Opponents have not scored less than 21 points in any one game against CC. This may be the most athletic team El Segundo has faced this season but ES is usually a crisp executing team under coach Steve Shevlin. CC will have to minimize their own mistakes, both turnovers and penalties, to have a chance in this one. That is the one way CC can beat ES, by not beating themselves.
Culver stays in the league race with a win, a loss probably relegates them to third and with the reputation of the Ocean league not that good, they could miss the playoffs because I don't believe they get an automatic selection from third place.
Next best game:
#6 Beverly Hills at #4 Hawthorne. This should be either a Hawthorne blowout or a hard fought victory for Hawthorne. Beverly Hills has not been able to generate any offense this season, scoring no more than 13 points in any one game and has not given up less than 35 but all of their competition has been comparable or better than Hawthorne.
The blowout:
#2 Lawndale at #5 Santa Monica
Before this season started, I would not have projected this game this way. Lawndale's Chris Murray was a known factor, but the demise of SM was not. Can anybody stop Chris Murray? We will not get that answer this week in terms of the Ocean League. He should have good numbers but with SM struggling, his supporting cast may also have big days. Perhaps Murray will get to sit out the 4th quarter.
