Compton football coach Calvin Bryant’s goal has been for the team to continually get better each week.
The Tarbabes got a little bit better Thursday night as they welcomed back Ameer Freeman and Jay’rome Norwood and Compton’s front seven showed a bit of what they can do as they defeated cross-town rival Compton Centennial 56-7.
The duo made an immediate impact as Freeman capped Compton’s opening 10-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown to give the Tarbabes a 7-0 lead with 11:55 left in the second quarter.
“It was great to be back on the field,” Freeman said after not being able to practice due to a nose injury.”
Freeman wasn’t the only one getting back on the field as Norwood was a dominant factor at linebacker and made an immediate impact on the next possession coming up with a big block on a punt attempt and recovered it for the touchdown to put Compton up 14-0 with 8:42 left in the second quarter.
“I’ve been waiting to play with my brother,” Norwood said about being able to play next to Freeman. “I used to play with him in youth football, and I’ve been waiting to play with him. We came out today and balled out.”
While the defense was humming along, Compton’s offense continued to impress as sophomore Trevon Fair continued to grow in his role at quarterback and it showed as he and Nate Willard slashed through the Apaches’ defense throughout the night.
Fair scored his first touchdown with a 20-yard scamper that pushed the lead to 21-0 with 1:18 left in the first half. Compton (2-0) wasn’t done as Freeman came up with an interception on the ensuing drive and brought it back to the Apace 2-yard-line.
After a penalty backed Compton to the 7-yard-line Willard got loose for a 7-yard touchdown to give Compton a 28-0 lead at halftime.
With another 300-yard rushing game last week, Compton was well on their way to another one as they combined for 164 yards on the ground in the first half.
“It felt really good,” Fair said about playing his second game at quarterback. “I’m getting the hand of it and used to it. It felt amazing, to be honest. Last game I wasn’t used to it last game .”
Fair proved he’s getting the hang of his quarterback duties early in the third quarter as he found Jaelyn Baker-Nelson for a 5-yard touchdown as he showed his athletic ability to get got up over a defender to give Compton a 35-0 lead.
Compton’s defense lived in the backfield as they came up with another sack to force a turnover on downs on the next drive. The Tarbabes had multiple tackles for loss and more than five sacks on the night.
Willard’s second touchdown of the night pushed the game to 42-0 and started the running clock heading into the heading into the fourth quarter. Willard finished the game with 15 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown while Fair finished the game with 10 carries 174 yards and three touchdowns.
Ronnie Mixon got in on the action on the next possession as he came up with a big interception and Fair took advantage on the ground as he scored an 11-yard touchdown to give the Tarbabes a 49-0 lead with 9:50 left in the fourth.
Centennial (0-2) didn’t give up as they scored on a 73-yard touchdown when Josh Crathers connected with Nick Gibbs.
However, just as he did all night Fair broke free for a 58-yard touchdown to cap Compton’s 56-7 win.
While Compton played a nearly clean game, the Tarbabes had more than 15 penalties for over 100 yards – which is something Bryant said they’ll have to clean up before they take on Paramount next week.
“I think we’re doing an excellent job with the personnel we have,” Bryant said. “We have a long ways to go.
