Narbonne beats Clayton Valley to win historic D1-A CIF Bowl title

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Narbonne (Harbor City) coach Manuel Douglas called over his team in the final minute of his team's 28-14 CIF Division 1-A State Bowl championship win over Clayton Valley Charter (Concord, Calif.) Saturday at Sacramento State.

He addressed his seniors.

"I told them 'This is the last time you'll be stepping on the field together,' " Douglas said. "I looked into their eyes. A lot of them were crying."

To win the Los Angeles City Section's first football title on the field is worth getting prideful about. But most of the Gauchos didn't even know that history. They just knew a long season and long careers were about to end. On top.

"It doesn't get any more gratifying than that," Douglas said.

Sean Riley rushed for 93 yards and two touchdown and Kameron Denmark added a 43-yard touchdown burst as the Gauchos (14-2) used a quick, big-play offense to knock off the methodical and determined Eagles, who ran off more plays (71-40), had more yards (297-286), first downs (17-13) and time of possession (32:52-15:06). They got 100-yard rushing games from Ray Jackson lll (32 carries, 139 yards) and Jake Peralta (27-123).

Simply, Narbonne finished its drives and the Gauchos' defense bent but never broke.

That was never better demonstrated by a 20-play, 72-yard fourth-quarter Clayton Valley drive that chewed up more than seven minutes and featured three fourth-down conversions — except the last one. Jackson was thrown for a two-yard loss on fourth down at the Narbonne 18 with 5:48 remaining and from there the Gauchos ran out the clock.

"They put it all out there," Murphy said. "They played well. We did largely what we wanted to do. We just weren't quite consistent enough. And with guys in new spots, it's understandable. Plus, that's just a really good football team. We're not used to playing against that combination of size and speed."

A huge gamble backfired for Clayton Valley to start the second half, when it went for it on 4th-and-7 from its own 25. The Eagles were stopped five yards short and on the next play, Riley made a pretty 27-yard touchdown run, going right, the cutting all the way across field to the left, to give Narbonne a 21-7 lead.

The gamble gaff didn't deter the Eagles on their next possession and this time it paid off.

On 4th-and-5 from its own 41,Jackson slithered through a small hole, broke two tackles, then sprinted 59 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-14.

Undaunted, Narbonne came right back with Denmark, who scooted 43 yards for a touchdown, giving the Gauchos another two-touchdown cushion with 5:23 left in the third.

Clayton Valley looked like it would perhaps climb within a touchdown, but a massive 20-play, 72-yard drive that chewed up 7:41 eventually was stopped on downs at the Narbonne 18 with 5:42 left. That ultimately thwarted Clayton Valley's final chance.

"They have some big-time athletes and they made big-time plays," Murphy said. "We were in the right spots. Just got to hand it to Narbonne."

After not allowing a touchdown in its impressive regional win, Clayton Valley watched Narbonne take just five plays to go up 60 yards and take a 7-0 lead.

A 37-yard pass from Roman Ale to Devaughn Cooper set up a 2-yard TD run by Sean Riley, giving the Gauchos a 7-0 lead with 10:42 left in the first.

When Clayton Valley took a timeout before its first play, the Eagles looked a little discombobulated. Not so. They did exactly what they wanted, chewing up 6 minutes and 57 seconds off the clock while traveling 79 yards and 13 plays, capped by a 1-yard TD plunge on fourth down by Peralta. That tied the game at 7-7 with 3:39 left in the first.

Clayton Valley converted two third-down conversions on the drive, which consisted of a lot of inside handoffs and pitches off its shotgun wing offense.

Both teams moved between the 20s, until Ale finished off a 12-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard TD keeper, making it 14-7 with 34 seconds left in the half. The final six plays came inside the Clayton Valley 6.

At halftime, Narbonne had 157 yards to 144 for Clayton Valley, which controlled the clock, 16:36 to 7:24. The plan was executed, but the result was still a 7-point deficit. Raymond Scott, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound sophomore, already had eight tackles by halftime. For Clayton Valley, Joseph Nguenti had four tackles at half, two for losses.

Peralta, a two-time All-League safety, was moved to quarterback last week due to multiple injuries. He had 13 carries for 65 yards by halftime and Jackson lll added 14 carries for 46 yards.

Narbonne 28, Clayton Valley 14

Narbonne        7  7  14  0  -  28
Clayton Valley 7  0  7    0  -  21

First quarter
N — Riley 2 run (Angel Garcia kick), 10:42
CV — Peralta 1 run (Mitchell Campos kick), 3:39

Second quarter
N — Ale 1 run (Garcia kick), 0:34

Third quarter
N — Riley 27 run (Garcia kick), 9:45
CV — Jackson 59 run (Campos kick), 6:07
N — Denmark 43 run (Garcia kick), 5:23

RUSHING
N — Riley 16-93, Denmark 5-62, Roman 7-16. Totals 29-169. CV - Jackson 32-139, Peralta 27-123, Lalaind 5-4, Teofilo 1-2. Totals 66-268.

PASSING
N — Roman 7-11-0-117. CV — Von Felden 3-5-0-29.

RECEIVING
N — Tre Walker 2-54, Denmark 2-12, Cooper 1-36, Byrd 1-10. CV - Lalaind 1-29, Jackson 1-2, Hegwer 1-(-2).

TACKLES
N - Raymond Scott 16, Lawson Hall 14, Jacob Green 11, Anthony Pandy 10. CV - Justin Roper 9, Joseph Nguenti 4.

TEAM STATS
First downs: N 13, CV 17
Total plays/yards: N 40-286, CV 71-297.
Fumbles/lost: N 0/0, CV 0/0
Penalties: N 6/68, CV 2/6