Animo Robinson wins its second straight City Section 8-man football title

A new dynasty could be in the making in Los Angeles.

Animo Robinson won its second straight City Section 8-man football crown in a light drizzle Saturday night at Crenshaw High, defeating previously unbeaten Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies 52-32 with a squad that will return as many as 22 players next season.

One of them figures to be the Monarchs’ athletic dual-threat quarterback Danny Silva. The junior threw for three touchdowns and kept drives alive using his legs. Perhaps their most dynamic player, Roger Shackelford, also a junior, scored on an 80-yard kickoff return, a 20-yard run and a 30-yard reception. Junior Christopher Cruz ran for two touchdowns and sophomore D’Andre Kirkpatrick had a pair of touchdown catches for top-seeded Animo Robinson (9-3), which scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 30-12 halftime lead.

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Quarterback Fudail Burns ran for two touchdowns, threw for two touchdowns and scored on a 60-yard interception return for the second-seeded Knights (11-1), who were seeking their second 8-man title, having won their first in 2016.

SOCES folded its program during the pandemic for lack of players, but it was brought back last year and, after a four-year absence, the Knights finished 4-6. Animo Robinson not only repeated as champion, it moved past Fulton with its sixth 8-man title — the most of any school in the City Section since the sport debuted in 2007.

Animo Robinson was perfect on its way to the title in 2017, defeating SOCES 34-20 in the final. It beat SOCES in the finals in 2018 and defeated North Valley Military Institute in 2019 for a third consecutive title.