San Pedro football comes up with stop on two-point conversion for overtime win against Banning

Posted by author October 19, 2024 Football

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The fans and supporters of San Pedro and Banning High cheer for their respective teams on Oct. 18th, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

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LOS ANGELES — The annual rivalry game between the San Pedro and Banning football teams had a bigger platform this season, with the game taking place at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

Some call it the Battle for the Harbor, this year it took on the title of The Harbor Classic. In a way, it was a bit of both, a battle and a classic.

A defensive stop on Banning’s potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt gave the Pirates (6-3, 1-2) a 34-33 overtime win.

The game was tied at 27-27 at the end of regulation.

San Pedro had possession first in overtime and on fourth down, Marcus Jeronymo hit Elias Redlew for a 4-yard touchdown.

On Banning’s third play, Noa Tuvalu hit Pedro Ibanez out of the backfield for a 10-yard touchdown. There was no hesitation in what Banning was going to do next.

“Overtime is a go for two situation,” Banning coach Raymond Grajeda said. “Kicking a field goal, means you want more overtime, we want to win the game.”

San Pedro led 21-20 at halftime and increased it to 27-20 on a pair of Dylan Moreno field goals.

Banning tied the game at 27-27 on a touchdown pass from Tuvalu to Andrew Guzman. That’s where the game remained until overtime.

“This win means everything,” San Pedro’s Pete Eneliko said. “Hard-fought battle, rival…under the big lights, all these people here, it means everything.”

The first half went back-and-forth with the lead changing hands three times in the second quarter. Banning took a 13-7 lead on a 10-yard run by Steven Perez. San Pedro responded with Jeronymo’s 9-yard pass to Redlew for a 14-13 lead.

On the next possession, Banning hit the end zone again, this time a 5-yard jump pass from Perez to Kody Galloway for a 20-14 lead.

San Pedro was aided by a pair of pass interference penalties on its next possession. The second one came on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Four plays later, Eneliko crashed into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown to give San Pedro a 21-20 lead at halftime.

The game was important for both teams since both entered winless in the Marine League. San Pedro lost to Carson and forfeited its game against Narbonne. Banning also forfeited its meeting with Narbonne and last week lost to Gardena 21-14.

The Pirates entered this year’s meeting having won four of the last five, including the two meetings.

This was the first overtime meeting between the teams since 2000.

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San Pedro 14, Banning 7: The Pirates (19-2, 6-0) led 14-0 at halftime and held on for the Marine League win. It was the third win this season for the Pirates against their rivals.

“It’s an honor,” San Pedro coach Victor Tuberosi said of playing at the Coliseum. “This opportunity comes once in a lifetime and maybe 20-30 years, you’re going to be sitting with your family and you will remember this day.

“I knew it was going to be tough. We have a tendency to play in spurts, but I was proud of the defense and I was very proud that we had two first downs on that final drive to close it out and not give the ball back.”

Banning (12-7, 5-2) cut the deficit in half late in the second half. San Pedro took over possession with less than two minutes remaining and was able to run out the clock.

“It meant a lot to be able to play here,” Banning coach Eliapo Sala said. “This is their fisrt time playing in the Coliseum. .. It’s an experience for them. It’s a wonderful place to play.”