Inglewood rallies late to beat Leuzinger in a battle of unbeaten teams

Inglewood trailed Leuzinger by three with less than three minutes to go.

The Sentinels were once up 20, cruising in their Bay League opener between undefeated teams. But Leuzinger stormed back, using three Journee Tonga touchdowns to take a fourth-quarter lead.

Inglewood quarterback Kingston Tisdell would not, could not let that be the end of their undefeated run, he said.

“Inglewood, the energy is always there,” the senior said. “When we’re down, our hopes get a little down. But it takes — it takes leaders, to get your team back up, let them know that you know we’re still in this and we can make things happen.”

And lead he did. In the red zone, with 26 seconds left in the game, Tisdell dove into the end zone and roared. The Inglewood marching band — about 40 members strong — roared alongside their signal-caller, blasting music with their tubas and trumpets in victory as the Sentinels celebrated their 34-29 win Friday night.

“He’s a proven winner,” Inglewood coach Mil’Von James said of Tisdell. “He stayed the course, and what he did was he didn’t panic, he showed no flinch, and he let us in. Our quarterback led us to a victory.”

Tisdell completed 14 of 26 passes for 326 yards, tossing three touchdowns against the Olympians (5-1).

The Birmingham transfer showcased the glitz and glamour of the playbook for Inglewood (6-0) — with their red and green “City of Champions” uniforms to match — connecting with junior tight end Andre Nickerson on nearly identical first-quarter touchdown passes, the first for 55 yards and the second for 69.

The duo connected once more in the third quarter for a 16-yard touchdown to extend Inglewood’s lead to two scores.

“Our connection started in January, even before spring ball,” Tisdell said of his teammate. “He’s a great player and I know he’s gonna do big things for us this year.”

Leuzinger, on the other hand, couldn’t implement the same success it found in its upset victory over Santa Margarita a few weeks ago. But it came close. Tonga — who’d tallied 18 touchdowns and 196 yards per game entering the contest — rushed for less than 30 yards in the first half. But in the second half, he showed why he’s one of Southern California’s breakout performers.

He’s not imposing, standing at just 5 feet 8 and 170 pounds. But when Tonga’s in his No. 1 gray jersey and heading for the end zone, leaving defenders in the dust as he did Friday, his play speaks for itself. Tonga finished with 160 rushing yards and 88 receiving yards, leading the Olympians in all-purpose yardage.

As the final whistle blew, the passion of the back-and-forth contest led to a postgame scuffle. First-year Leuzinger coach Jason Miller and James still shook hands at midfield, as the latter remained complimentary of his new Bay League opposition.

“That was a good team,” James said. “They played well and did a good job running it. I’m [proud of] my kids for being resilient.”