High school sports Web  sites were predicting Beverly Hills to lose to undefeated league leader, Culver City, 48-14, (last year the Normans lost 57-27). Facing a team as powerful as the Centaurs, the matchup promised to be “thrilling” (the band even played Michael Jackson’s hit at halftime) and bittersweet as all the senior players were honored  along with their parents before the kickoff.

The Normans scored first and on the game’s opening drive, with a five-yard slant pass from junior quarterback Josh Newman to senior receiver Daniel Bradbury.  Culver City followed up with a 25-yard field goal, making the first quarter score 7-3, Normans.

On the first play of the second quarter, Newman and Bradbury connected again, scoring on a 30-yard, end-zone pass.

The Centaurs answered back with back-to-back touchdowns, one running and one passing, bringing the score to 17-14, Culver City.   

Not to kept out, the Normans came right back with an 80-yard touchdown run by senior running back Abe Kim on the first play after the kickoff. The first half ended with the score, BHHS-21, CC-17.

Starting the third quarter, Culver City scored first on another touchdown run, making the score 24-21, Centaurs. Not to be outdone, the Normans grabbed the lead right back with a 50-yard TD run by junior running back AJ Fortier, making the score 28-24, BHHS. But before the end of the third quarter, Culver City scored again, regaining the lead, 31-28.

Gaining momentum late in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard pass from Newman to Bradbury, the Normans struggled to add to the score and turned the ball over on downs, with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Then, senior linebacker Jon David recovered a Centaur fumble, and the Normans scored on the next play—an 18-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Frank Brown, and Beverly Hills took the lead again, 35-31, with just more than two minutes left to play.

What happened next was a replay of what happened in games against Santa Monica and Inglewood—Culver City moved down the field, and scored the winning touchdown with only 30 seconds left to play in the game, bringing the final score to 38-35.

The game saw fine individual defensive play, and there were three quarterback sacks and two tackles for losses by juniors Greg Townsend, Matt Yashar and Jordon Alleyne, and seniors Camyar Meshkaty and Jeremy Bruce. Bruce also caught an interception and Willy Wood made a perfect five for five extra points, Friday night.

In the end,  Beverly Hills ended up giving Culver City  its toughest league game this season.