Crenshaw football ends Birmingham’s streak to reach City Section title game

VAN NUYS — The streak had to end at some point.

The sixth-seeded Crenshaw High football team is headed to the L.A. City Section Open Division championship game after a gritty 12-7 victory over No. 2 seed Birmingham on Friday night at Birmingham.

The result snaps the Patriots’ streak of 54 consecutive wins over City Section opponents.

Crenshaw (11-1) gave up a touchdown in the first quarter but shut out Birmingham (8-4) for the rest of the night, in a game that included multiple turnovers on downs in the red zone and interceptions.

“You’re gonna get beat at some point,” Birmingham coach Jim Rose said. “It’s a bummer. But, I mean we just went eight years and five days without losing to the Section. If you tell me, we’ll start another one right now, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.”

After trailing for the entire game to that point, Crenshaw quarterback Danniel Flowers found Deance Lewis for a 16-yard go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Lewis was blanketed by Birmingham defenders but Flowers’ throw threaded the needle for the score.

Flowers finished the night 16-of-23 for 158 yards.

The Birmingham running game looked unstoppable in the first quarter. An interception ended an opening drive that seemed likely to end in points, but the team built on its early momentum. Patriots running back Dallas Jones sparked the hosts with several big gains on the team’s second drive before quarterback Kevin Hawkins scored on a 1-yard run.

Crenshaw answered on the ensuing drive with wide receiver De’andre Kirkpatrick providing some big plays as the Cougars marched down the field. Crenshaw found the end zone but a blocked PAT kept Birmingham ahead until the fourth quarter.

Kirkpatrick made plays everywhere for Crenshaw. He finished the night a little banged up but with six catches for 61 yards on offense, and a handful of tackles and one of the Cougars’ two interceptions.

“Number 10 for them, he’s the best player I’ve seen in the City this year,” Rose said. “He had a great game. He caused havoc on defense and offense early. He had three catches on their first touchdown drive. He’s a great player and Crenshaw is having a great season.”

Birmingham came within inches of a first-and-goal but was turned away in the red zone. Patriots junior Chris Barrera had set up the drive with the team’s only takeaway, an interception.

The Patriots fed the ball to running back Braylen Morgan late in the game, who started a pair of second-half drives with seven and six consecutive carries, respectively.

Morgan finished the night with 90 rushing yards and Birmingham’s only reception, a 26-yard catch on a fourth-and-25.

The Patriots came so close to stealing momentum late in the game with a quarterback change and trick play. Senior Jimmy Renteria checked in for Birmingham’s final drive but couldn’t connect with a receiver on his three downs. Renteria then delivered a bullet on fourth-and-long on a fake punt to receiver Paul Turner, but the Crenshaw punt returner made a great tackle to break up a would-be first down.

“No,” Rose said when asked if he was surprised by Renteria’s throw. “It was there. I thought we had it, I thought we had it right there. We just didn’t finish.”

Crenshaw advances to face top-seeded Carson (9-3), which defeated fifth-seeded Garfield, 40-7, in next week’s City championship game.

Rose will graduate another talented senior class and hopes that next season entails the start of the next monumental win streak.

“They lost one game in their Section, in their careers,” Rose said of his seniors. “Most of these kids were in elementary school the last time we lost a Section game, so it’s time to start a new streak next year.”