Football: Narbonne, South Gate, Bernstein top City Section title contenders

BY ERIC SONDHEIMER

September 8, 2014, 7:24 a.m.

It's only two weeks into the City Section football season, but I've got my three title favorites: Narbonne in Division I, South Gate in Division II and Bernstein in Division III.

That doesn't mean they'll win it all, but that's the early prognosis.

Narbonne (1-1) gave Long Beach Poly a tough game last week, something that Crenshaw did not do. Over the course of the season, Crenshaw will surely close the gap with Narbonne, but for now, the Gauchos are the team to beat.

Crenshaw (1-1), San Pedro (2-0) and Garfield (0-2) are the most likely teams to join Narbonne in the semifinals. Dorsey (1-1), Arleta (2-0), Palisades (1-0), Birmingham (0-2) and Venice (0-1) will have to get a lot better to break into the final four.

In Division II, South Gate, led by running back Lavell Thompson, has opened with wins over Westchester and University. The Rams still need to be tested by stronger teams, and that will happen starting with Eagle Rock this week and then Eastern League play.

Division II has lots of potential challengers to South Gate, including Sylmar (1-1), Canoga Park (2-0), Chatsworth (1-0), Franklin (2-0), Eagle Rock (1-1) and surprising Huntington Park (2-0).

In Division III, Bernstein (2-0) has started well. Running back Alex Shelton has 352 yards rushing in two games. But beware of Hawkins (2-0), a new program with lots of quality young players. Hollywood is also getting batter at 2-0 and Los Angeles is 1-0 under new coach Eric Scott.

Hollywood and Bernstein are rivals and their league game could be an intriguing Division III matchup in the regular-season finale on Nov. 7. Monroe (2-0) and Rancho Dominguez (1-0) also figure to be heard from, because they're playing in tougher leagues than Bernstein and Hollywood.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer