Friday night writes
Catch the highlights from Friday’s high school football action.
TORRANCE >> Jakob Galloway hasn’t had the smoothest of starts to the new season.
He missed the season opener against Cerritos due to COVID-19 protocols and played in last week’s win over Peninsula with just one week of practice.
Friday, Galloway made up for lost time and showed why he’s one of the top players in the South Bay.
The senior running back rushed for 385 yards and scored four touchdowns and had a strong presence on defense as the Pilots slugged it out with North Torrance (31) for a 54-40 win.
“It was a wonderful night,” Galloway said. “I had my brothers right here, blocking for me, doing their best and me in the backfield just pounding the ball.
“Last week, I wasn’t 100% because I only had one week of practice. Coming back this week, with two weeks of practice, I felt great.”
Galloway and the Pilots trailed 20-11 early in the second quarter.
Then he scored on 12- and 41-yard runs to give the Pilots (3-0) a 24-20 lead.
Later in the quarter Seth Fao capped a Banning drive with a 1-yard run and 2-point conversion for a 32-20 halftime lead.
After a slow start offensively for both teams, The Saxons, thanks to a fumble recovery in Banning territory and Toa Ortega’s 4-yard touchdown, cut the deficit in half, 32-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s when things got wild.
Early in the quarter, North got within 38-33 on a Trevor Lagarde 35-yard strike to Ortega with 11:32 remaining.
On Banning’s next possession, Andrew Davoe hit Fernando Rendon for a 49yard touchdown and after the 2-point conversion the Pilots led 46-33.
Two possessions later, Galloway struck again, taking the handoff and racing 50 yards for his fourth TD of the night and a 54-33 lead.
“They’re a passing team and we’re a running team,” Banning coach Raymond Grajeda said. “The passing team got picked off four times.
“We wanted to stop the pass … four interceptions. He (Lagarde) probably never had a game like that in his life. We wanted to run the ball and our running back ran for 380 in the midst of things. I think we got what we wanted.”
Lagarde had four passing touchdowns. He got North off to quick start with his 13yard pass to Jacob Wicker on the first possession of the game.
After a Banning field goal, the Saxons took a 14-3 lead as Lagarde hit Josese Kaina for a 57-yard screen pass.
“Our DBs had a slow start,” Galloway said. “We came out on top in the second half.”