Taft Can’t Avoid Failing Grade Against Dorsey

WOODLAND HILLS — It was a review of a familiar physics lesson for Taft High.

For every action there is an opposite and . . . yada, yada, yada.

The Toreadors didn’t need the reminder, but Dorsey supplied it anyway, storming to a 42-28 victory Friday night at Taft.

Banning was the first to send the message in a 49-19 victory over Taft two weeks ago.

Yes, the same Banning defeated by the Toreadors in the City final last year.

Dorsey (3-0) rushed for 456 yards and overcame a halftime deficit by grounding Taft into exhaustion.

Yes, the same Dorsey defeated by the Toreadors in the semifinals last year as well as during the regular season.

“We turned it into a physical football game in the second half and all that pounding took its toll [on Taft],” Coach Paul Knox of Dorsey said.

Taft (0-3) led at halftime, 21-12, on the strength of three big plays, but Dorsey scored on its first third-quarter possession and dominated thereafter.

Every time the Toreadors began to move the ball, penalties stalled them. Taft was flagged 12 times for 95 yards.

On a key sequence early in the fourth quarter with Dorsey ahead, 28-21, Taft drove inside the 10-yard line only to be hit twice with delay-of-game penalties. A missed field-goal attempt gave the ball back to the Dons, who scored in seven plays for a 35-21 lead.

“We are extremely inexperienced and young,” Coach Troy Starr of Taft said. “Our effort is increasing, I’ll say that.”

Taft’s normally potent passing game was throttled by a strong Dorsey rush. Brandon Hance threw for only 99 yards, completing seven of 19 passes. He was sacked four times.

However, Taft hung tough in the first half despite falling behind, 6-0, after Dorsey marched 64 yards in 11 plays midway through the first quarter.

Hance bolted 77 yards for a touchdown on a bootleg moments later, and the lead was soon extended to 14-6. Lee Marks blocked a punt, then ran 19 yards on Taft’s first play to set up a two-yard touchdown plunge by Hance.

Dorsey answered with a 50-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 14-12, but with 20 seconds to play in the half, Marks went from running out the clock to outrunning the Dons 95 yards for a touchdown.

“We didn’t play well on defense in the first half,” Knox said. “We gave up big plays, which was exactly my worry with Taft.”

Dorsey countered by tearing off consistent chunks of yardage from its wing-T formation.

Tashiri Williams had 163 yards in 25 carries and Jason Pickens added 146 in nine carries for Dorsey. Javaun Lewis rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Marks had 150 yards in eight carries and Hance had 72 yards and three touchdowns in 18 carries.

The Dons ended a four-game losing streak against Taft, which has begun a streak in the opposite direction. Opening with three losses isn’t the way championships are defended.

Taft’s solace comes in the form of physics as well. A pendulum swings only so far before it begins its return.

“I’ve said this before,” Starr said. “If you want to get us, you’d better get us early.”