Dominguez football knocks off Paramount to close in on playoff spot

COMPTON — Dominguez stormed into the CIF Southern Section shot playoffs for the archetypal clip successful six years, dominating Paramount connected Friday successful a showdown that was decided by 4 large plays.

The Dons nabbed the San Gabriel Valley League’s last guaranteed postseason berth — not mathematically, not yet, but for each intents — with a 27-7 triumph that volition support the visiting Pirates retired of the playoffs for the archetypal clip since 2010, caput manager Matt Howard’s archetypal season.

Jordan Ford completed conscionable 5 of 12 passes but they went for 225 yards, 3 touchdowns and the pivotal play that acceptable up Dominguez’s different score. The Dons’ defence did the rest, shutting down Paramount’s onslaught en way to a 27-0 halftime vantage that some sides figured was much than enough.

“Big plays successful the archetypal fractional helped america out, and the guys played hard. They wanted to triumph existent bad, due to the fact that Paramount’s been a thorn successful our backmost for a agelong time,” said Dominguez caput manager Deon Toliver, who had suffered 3 successive shutout losses to the Pirates earlier a 21-19 triumph during the outpouring season. “They knew this was the playoffs, and they don’t privation to suffer nary more. They privation to support playing.”

The joyousness was tempered somewhat erstwhile prima receiver Cieonta Davis suffered a genu wounded with 3 minutes to spell portion playing antiaircraft end. He had to beryllium carried disconnected the tract but was walking connected his ain aft the game. He’ll acquisition tests Saturday and, Toliver said, “hopefully we get immoderate bully news.”

The Dons (7-2 overall, 2-2 SGVL) were up conscionable 4 plays into the crippled — Davis caught a Ford propulsion implicit the mediate astatine their 42 and turned it into a 66-yard touchdown — and added to it with 3 second-quarter scores.

Davis sprinted 30 yards up the close sideline with different Ford propulsion connected third-and-8 to acceptable up Cyrus Finnie’s 7-yard touchdown tally 2 minutes into the quarter. Ford past deed Bilal Musaddiq successful stride connected the close sideline for a 50-yard people connected the adjacent possession, and past helium passed conscionable beyond the enactment of scrimmage to Ormanie Arnold, who juked past the Pirates’ secondary for a 70-yard TD, connected Dominguez’s adjacent violative play.

Throw retired those 4 passes, and Paramount (2-6, 1-3) outgained the Dons, 39-30, successful the archetypal fractional and 156-72 for the game.

“They were a batch faster than we anticipated. You could spot it,” Howard said. “They got the shot successful their guys’ hands, and we had a hard clip tackling them. … It is what it is. The kids ne'er gave up. That’s each I asked them astatine halftime, to support fighting. They did. They played hard. They conscionable gave up immoderate large plays determination successful the archetypal half.”

The Pirates struggled to determination the shot and had lone 1 play successful Dominguez territory until precocious successful the 3rd quarter. A drawback implicit Dons punter Kylon Bias’ caput gave them the shot connected the 20 with 40 seconds to spell successful the archetypal half, but Arnold intercepted freshman backmost Cameron Crutcher successful the extremity portion connected the adjacent play.

Paramount managed conscionable 4 archetypal downs until midway done the 3rd quarter, 2 of them connected penalties, but moved the shot successful spurts aft that, chiefly connected Xavier Williams runs retired of a wildcat formation. He had 10 carries for 60 yards — to decorativeness with 57 — successful the past 4th and a half, the past of them a 21-yard touchdown connected the Pirates’ last violative play.

Dominguez expected with a triumph to officially clinch a playoff berth, but Gahr’s crippled astatine Warren was canceled aft a affirmative COVID-19 test, leaving the Gladiators astatine 1-2 successful SGVL play. If they were to upset Paramount adjacent week and Dominguez, 57-0 winners implicit Gahr 2 weeks ago, mislaid to last-place Lynwood, they would decorativeness up of Dominguez.

That’s an unfathomable acceptable of results. Dominguez’s solemnisation was each astir making the playoffs.

“Feels great, man,” Ford said. “We called this our playoff game, (because if) we lose, we don’t spell to the playoffs. I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied yet. I’m trying to triumph a CIF championship.”