Carson Brushes Off Jefferson, 27-7, in City 4-A Playoffs

As far as Robert Johnson and Lomitusi Fa’avae are concerned, the Carson High football team finally stepped forward Wednesday night in a 27-7 victory over Jefferson at Gardena High.

Carson scored three touchdowns, including two by Johnson, within a three-minute 19-second span in the first half to take a 21-0 lead in the City Section 4-A Division quarterfinal playoff game. Jefferson was never able to recover

Last week, second-seeded Carson needed to hold on for a 28-24 first-round victory over 15th-seeded Lincoln.

Johnson finished with 73 yards in seven carries as Carson overcame five turnovers, including four fumbles, and an off-night by quarterback Jamie Sander.

Sander, the South Bay’s leading passer with 2,292 yards in 12 games, completed only two passes for one yard in the first half but finished with eight completions in 21 attempts for 69 yards.

“We got too confident,” Johnson said. “We just got back to the basics and things worked themselves out.”

Carson (8-3-1) will meet Van Nuys, which defeated Locke, 36-30.

Jefferson (7-4-1) was held to minus 18 yards offense.

Jefferson quarterback Marcus Johnson was sacked seven times for a loss of 70 yards, including five times for 54 yards in the first half.

Fa’avae and Sipo’u Mareko had two sacks each.

“This was the real Carson team,” Fa’avae said. “Last week’s team was the mouth team or the debating team. All we did was argue, but we came together tonight.”

James Pepe scrambled for a 19-yard score with 1:12 left in the first quarter to complete a six-play 59-yard drive and give Carson a 7-0 lead.

Linebacker Chris Vaimili intercepted a pass from Marcus Johnson and raced untouched 17 yards down the left sideline 17 seconds later to increase the lead to 14-0.

After stopping Jefferson on downs on the next series, the Colts took advantage of a bad punt to take possession at the Jefferson 23-yard line.

Two plays later, Johnson broke three tackles to bulldoze in from six yards for Carson’s third first-half touchdown.