Redondo’s Brandon Boyd follows blocker Chris Mares during the Sea Hawks’ 24-7 win over Bay League rival West. Boyd put the exclamation mark on a successful homecoming game with a 43-yard touchdown run. Photo by Ray Vidal

Mira Costa’s football team put itself in the driver’s seat for a league title, rallying to beat Palos Verdes 20-16 and become the only undefeated team in the Bay League.

Down 16-13 with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter, Mira Costa faced a fourth-and-8 from the Sea Kings’ 32-yard line when quarterback Kyle Demarco hit Kyle Nunn for the tandem’s second touchdown of the game to give the Mustangs the road victory Friday afternoon and move Mira Costa up two spots into the No. 8 position in the CIF Western Division rankings.

Demarco opened the scoring for Mira Costa with a 1-yard run in the first quarter before connecting with Nunn on a 6-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to tie the game at 13. Demarco has completed 30 of 54 pass attempts for seven touchdowns this season.

Mira Costa (4-3, 2-0) hosts Peninsula (3-4, 1-1) tomorrow at 7 p.m. Peninsula, which lost to Leuzinger 31-21 last week, relies heavily on its running game led by Ryan Pierson (5-11, 190) and Demetri Papadakis (6-2, 200). Pierson had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance last week, gaining 157 yards on 32 carries.
Papadakis leads the Panther defense as its top tackler.

Redondo remained in the hunt for the Bay League championship while celebrating its homecoming with a critical 24-7 win over West. The Sea Hawk defense remains the strength of Coach Gene Simon’s team, shutting out the Warriors after West went ahead 7-0 in the first quarter.

Redondo quarterback Erik Wilson completed 10-of-16 passes for 103 yards and backup Chris Mares made the most of his one completion in four attempts, connecting with Ryan Hyman for a 73-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Hyman caught three passes for 114 yards, bringing his season total to 399 yards and five touchdowns. Theo Alejo scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter, Nick Diaz added a 28-yard field goal in the fourth and Brandon Boyd capped the scoring for the Sea Hawks with an electrifying 43-yard run.

Redondo (3-4, 1-1) travels to Leuzinger (5-2, 1-1) tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Olympians come off a 31-21 victory at Peninsula behind the running of Johnny Davis (5-10, 180) who rushed for 109 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.

With the win, Leuzinger broke into the CIF Western Division top ten.
Quarterback Te Shon Burton (6-3, 190) is 77-of-136 passing for 1,021 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. His favorite target is receiver Denzel Idris (6-1, 175) who has 26 receptions for 257 yards and one touchdown.

Leuzinger’s defense is led by the team’s leading tackler, safety Taumoelau Kavienga (5-11, 195), and linebacker Isaac Foster (6-1, 215), who has seven sacks this season. ER