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Garfield may take page from rivals’ game plan

By RON GUILD, Sports Editor 06.NOV.08


Roosevelt had the answer a couple of weeks ago by completely taking the air out of the football (by throwing only one pass) in a 33-21 victory over the Bulldogs.

Garfield, which hosts Jordan at 7 p.m. Friday in a pivotal Eastern League game, is planning on taking a similar approach.

“We want to go right at them and try to control the ball,” Garfield coach Lorenzo Hernandez said. “Our whole goal is to be patient, give them the long field and not give up the big play and be in the game in the fourth quarter.”

Since Garfield (5-3, 4-0) is tied for first place with Roosevelt (7-1, 4-0), a win is imperative against Jordan (4-4, 3-1) with next week’s East L.A. Classic looming.

That means finding a way to control USC-bound quarterback James Boyd and a group of talented receivers, headed by the likes of DeShawn Beck, Delvon Purvis, Brandon Caldwell and Robert Lewis.

Boyd, a 6-foot-5, 225-pounder who also plays defensive end, has passed for 2,735 yards and 27 touchdowns. He accounted for seven TDs in last week’s 53-14 thrashing of South East.

In addition to throwing for 368 yards and four scores and running for a pair of touchdowns, Boyd caught a scoring pass.

Purvis (eight catches for 103 yards), Caldwell (five for 108, two TDs) and Lewis (six for 73, TD) did their share of damage against South East.

“Defensively, we’re going to rely on (backs) Lanny Delgado and Dominic Lam to shut those guys down,” Hernandez said. “Our defensive ends are super fast, so hopefully, they’ll force Boyd to make some quick decisions.”