BHHS Football Season Ends on Sour Note

Before its final home game of the season, the Beverly Hills High varsity football team held its annual “Senior Recognition Night,” celebrating the senior players and their parents along with inducting the newest members into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

But as the game started, it became apparent that the Normans were no match for rival Culver City, which won 43-0 Thursday night at Nickoll Field to clinch third place in the Ocean League. Santa Monica will finish in first place with a victory over Hawthorne on Friday. Should the Vikings lose they would share the title with Inglewood.

Culver City (7-3 overall, 3-2 in league) won the toss but elected to defer and kicked off to Beverly Hills (2-8, 1-4). In what seemed a foreshadowing of what was to come, the Normans tried to surprise Culver City on their first play from scrimmage by calling a deep pass, but it was intercepted and resulted in the Centaurs' first score.

“It was tough out there," Normans senior running back and defensive back Frank Brown said. "We had to come out fighting and we didn’t. My coaches taught me to be disciplined, to fight hard and play aggressive.”

Junior lineman Ethan Forman echoed his teammate’s sentiments.

“It was tough,” Forman said. “Culver City kicked our butts at the beginning. I just wish we had played harder, but we did our best.”

The Centaurs went on to dominate Thursday’s game, scoring on their first four possessions, and adding a blocked punt and a field goal to take a 36-0 halftime lead. The Normans’ defense could not stop the Culver City offense while Beverly Hills’ offense moved the ball but couldn’t finish drives.

“I’m really looking forward to next year,” said junior Jeremiah Williams, a first-year BHHS varsity player. “The team is going to learn from this. It has been a down season for us. We are going to bounce back really strong.”

Last season, Beverly Hills went 6-5, finished in a three-way tie for second place and made the Western Division playoffs.

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