Haunting Loss
The air inside Milton Knox’s house in Pacoima seemed to rush out in an instant. It took just five fateful words from state CIF commissioner Marie Ishida-- ``and representing the Southern Section’’ – for the Birmingham football team to realize its dream of playing for a state title had died.
In the end, it wasn’t the Patriots last game that counted most, but their first.
Birmingham’s 20-6 loss to Crespi of Encino on August 30 ultimately proved to be the deciding factor for the 10 section commissioners who voted to send Centennial High of Corona to the Division I state bowl game against Concord De La Salle Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
Both teams finished 13-1, both had signature wins against tough competiton, but Centennial defeated Crespi 41-20 while Birmingham lost.
``That was a tough one,’’ said Ken Gunn, the event director of the games. ``After a long examination of the strength of schedule of (Birmingham, Centennial, Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly), all of those teams did a great job. Basically, it came down to two or our selection guidelines: head-to-head and record against common opponents. On head-to-head, Birmingham beat Long Beach Poly. On common opponents: Centennial beat Crespi and Birmngham lost.’’
Gunn said the entire process of selecting the six teams for Saturday’s three games took about three hours. The closest races were for the Division I South representative and the Division II North representative. The latter, actually took two ballots to determine a winner. Ultimately, Novato (12-0) beat out Foothill of Palo Cedro (near Redding) and will face Oceanside of San Diego(11-1). In Division III, St. Bonaventure of Ventura (13-1) will face Central Catholic of Modesto (11-1).
Knox, the City Section’s all-time leading rusher and scorer, will be on the other side of the country during those games, on a recruiting trip to Florida, and said he’s too hurt right now to even think about them.
``I think that loss to Crespi will haunt us for the rest of our lives,’’ Knox said. ``Every guy on the team is going to be thinking about that game at night, thinking of things they could’ve done. It’s real hard right now. We made history this year. I don’t know if there will ever be another City team or Valley team that did the kind of things we did this year. But it’s hard right now.’’
Knox and the Patriots have plenty to be proud of. In addition to dominating the City Section, they scored upsets of Long Beach Poly and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in nationally televised games. They earned a national ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll. They won their fourth City title in six years.
``The fact that we were even up there, on television and mentioned for a game like that is incredible,’’ Birmingham coach Ed Croson said. ``It shows that we can play with anyone in the state, anyone in the country. I can’t really think about (the Crespi game) because of what a good season we had.’’
But in the end, the only thing that mattered was the score on the first game of the year, on a 105 degree night at Pierce College. The game where their bus was an hour late to pick them up, the game where their starting quarterback was out with a broken hand, the game where their starting safety was still waiting to be cleared for a fifth year of eligibility. The only time all year Knox fumbled the ball.
``It’s amazing how one play, one game, can determine your whole season,’’ Knox said. ``It’s tough right now.’’
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