Congratulations to the football players and coaches of Gardena High School! My alma mater is ON A ROLL!!!
Those Mighty Mohicans… um, Panthers, are the reigning CIF SoCal Regional 7-AA Bowl Champions after defeating the Lancers of San Diego’s Francis Parker High School last night 27-13.
What’s just as impressive is that one week prior, on Saturday November 30, the Panthers (11-4) did what few outside of the program might have expected when the season began.
Behind a strong defensive effort anchored by lineman Tyrone McDaniel, Gardena took down top-seeded Marquez High School 14-8 in the CIF L.A. City Section Division III championship game at El Camino College.
It was the first L.A. CIty football title for Gardena since 2000 when Marshall Jones led the way to the Division II championship.
“They always say it is unreal when you do something like this,” Coach Jim McElroy said. “This is pretty unreal. … We didn’t expect to get here this fast and do it the way that we did it. Just straight community kids, kids who belong at Gardena, that take pride in being Gardena Panthers and holding up the tradition of the Mohicans that used to be there when they had all of those good Gardena teams back in the days.
“We would love to be at the level of the Narbonnes, (Long Beach) Poly, St. John Bosco, that would be great, but we’re trying to build this the right way. No recruiting, just community kids, Gardena kids.” (Read More)
When McElroy and his staff arrived for the 2018 season, they inherited a team riding a 21-game losing streak.
Now, Gardena advances to the CIF Division 7-AA State Championship Bowl on December 14, where they will battle the Mustangs of San Francisco’s Lincoln High School. ONWARD!
#DenaPride #CitySectionPride #HighSchoolFootball
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