Running Back Tray Boone Lifts Narbonne to City Section Championship

It was a sublime performance from Narbonne Gaucho’s running back Tray Boone. His 301 rushing yards and six touchdowns fuelled the Gauchos to a 48-32 victory over their Marine League foes Carson Colts in the CIF Los Angeles City Section Division I Championship Game.

Yes you read that correctly. Tray Boone rushed for 301 yards mainly between the hashes brutalizing a Carson defense that had no answers. And for a team whose quarterback Troy Williams was still hobbled unable to plant his foot making throws, Narbonne needed every bit of Boone’s effort.

I won’t lie. There is no presumption of objectivity on my part. I am an alumnus Class of 1997. I was there when the varsity football team went winless in 1994, when they still wore the Green Bay Packers uniforms. I was there when Nnamdi Asomugha helped lead the turnaround of the program.

Things were dicey in the first couple of possessions when the Gaucho quarterback Williams was picked off twice by Jerrod Moton. The first interception resulted in a 55-yard touchdown run by Roger Jones to give the Horsies the 7-0 lead.

But after the second interception, Narbonne stopped messing around. Boone proceeded to run for 200 yards with four touchdowns in that first half alone taking advantage of fumble after fumble by Carson.

I still have bitter memories of the Championship game in 2008. Narbonne had a 21-7 fourth quarter lead against our hated foes San Pedro Pirates. But the Pirates got a touchdown just as time expired to tie the game. With no tiebreakers for the Championship game both the Gauchos and Pirates were named co-champions, a bitter end for Narbonne.

So by halftime, I had a stupid grin on my face and was yelling out of my window to all the brain damaged Pirates grads that surround me that my Gauchos were on their way for the win. Of course there is folly in all of that hubris. In other words things took a turn in the second half.

After the Colts took nearly eight minutes to score a field goal, they stopped the Gauchos. Once they got the ball back, Colts quarterback Kevin McMahon connected with USC commit Darreus Rogers for a 73-yard touchdown pass to give the Colts an ounce of hope. The two-point conversion cut the Gaucho lead to 35-18.

Then Narbonne started making the mistakes. They fumbled the kickoff giving Carson the ball on Narbonne’s 30-yard line. And just like that it seemed like 2008 all over again, only worse.

Just as the clock clicked over to the fourth quarter, Narbonne woke up. They blocked Edgardo Angel’s field goal attempt and drained the clock. Although the Colts kept things interesting they couldn’t overcome their inability to stop the Gaucho run game. After Boone ran 33 yards for his sixth touchdown of the night with less than two minutes remaining essentially icing the game, he was in tears hugging his offensive line.

It does feel very good to win that outright championship. It feels even better to beat the rival Colts in the game. But what will really be especially sweet is crushing the San Pedro Pirates next season.

TONIGHT’S ACTION

NHL

Dallas Stars at LA Kings. 7:30 p.m. FSWest, AM 1150 KTLK.
Anaheim Ducks at Nashville Predators. 5:00 p.m. KDOC, AM 830 KLAA.

College Basketball

Long Beach State 49ers at North Carolina Tarheels. 4:00 p.m. ESPN3 (online only).
Pennsylvania Quakers at UCLA Bruins. 4:00 p.m. FSWest, AM 570 KLAC.
Cal State Northridge Matadors at Pepperdine Waves. 7:00 p.m.
Idaho State Bengals at Loyola Marymount Lions. 7:00 p.m. 88.9 FM KXLU.