Tooth and nail didn’t seem to do the Coliseum League title game justice on Friday night.
It’s not everyday a 6-2 final score occurs in City Section football — when both Crenshaw and King/Drew entered the game having each scored in double digits in all but one game in 2025.
Danniel Flowers — Crenshaw’s junior quarterback who broke his left hand against Washington Prep two weeks ago — made sure he provided the tooth to the Cougars in the second half and put the nail in the coffin in Crenshaw’s first Coliseum League title since 2023.
Down 2-0 in the third quarter, Flowers escaped the pocket on a third-and-12 play, keeping the ball on a read option and dove for the pylon for the touchdown. With just over 15 minutes remaining in the game, it was the first and only lead Crenshaw needed. .
“Honestly, I have to thank my O-line for blocking for me,” Flowers said. “And then the defense, the defense was clutch. Honestly, the defense all like, mainly, carries the game. We just played all as a team.”
If it weren’t for Flowers’ touchdown, the Coliseum League decider — which could have been King/Drew’s first as a program since it launched in 2022 — could have gone down an infamy.
On the opening kickoff, Crenshaw’s Jacori Starks caught the ball at the 15-yard line, but ran backward to try to make something out of nothing with hoards of Eagles running at him. He trailed into his own end zone and King/Drew lucked out with a game-starting safety.
Instead, as luck turned Crenshaw’s way, interim coach Terrance Whitehead — who has stepped in for longtime Cougars coach Robert Garrett (who is on administrative leave) since the start of the season — shouted for The Times to not talk to him and to focus on his players.
“Tonight is all about the players,” said Whitehead, who has a serious case for City Section coach of the year, leading the Cougars to an 8-1 overall record and an Open Division berth.
One of those players was junior tight end/linebacker De’Andre Fitzpatrick.
A transfer from 8-man Amino Robinson, Fitzpatrick led a defensive front that kept King/Drew’s offense scoreless. As a tight end, he exploded in the second half for a 42-yard reception — and a 90 total yards receiving on six catches — which set up Flowers’ game winning touchdown.
“Means a lot for me to be a new addition to this team and be able to bring new life to the team,” said Fitzpatrick, who recently received a scholarship offer from Nevada Las Vegas. “But the job is not finished.”
King/Drew will have to wait for its first Coliseum League title. Coach Joe Torres spoke impassioned, with tears rolling down his cheek after the game, lamenting the officials “taking the game” from his team. Twenty-plus penalties were called on Friday night.
The Eagles don’t have a home field, Torres said. They don’t have pads, he said. King/Drew walked four blocks to a practice field in the spring and summer and had to wait between 4 to 5 p.m. to be bused to a practice field during the season, he added. He prides himself on pulling his players “away from gangs” and into college.
“I’m gonna tell you this,” Torres said. “If they put us in Division I, we’ll win that again.”
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