Bell, Bowen Have Some Close Calls in 14-6 Win

Marcus Bowen walked the line Friday afternoon--first, the line between in and out of bounds, then between offense and defense, and finally between clean coverage and pass interference. He only stepped over once, or so the record will show.

Bowen intercepted a Paul Grimes pass and tiptoed down the sideline on the way to a 70-yard touchdown. He then made three key and controversial defensive plays to lead Bell High to a surprisingly tough 14-6 Eastern League victory over Los Angeles.

Bell, The Times’ No. 10-ranked City team, wasn’t anticipating what it got from Los Angeles. The Eagles, 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league entering the game, figured to be an easy winner over Los Angeles, a team with 3-3 and 0-2 records, and coming off losses to Roosevelt and Huntington Park. But Bell could move the ball only in spurts--rarely through the air--while giving up yardage in chunks to Grimes and Los Angeles.

“We thought that we could step onto the field and they would just roll over, but that wasn’t the case,” Bell Coach Tosh Nitta said.

Indeed, Los Angeles rolled, but the wrong way as far as Nitta was concerned.

Bowen’s touchdown came after he stepped in front of Los Angeles wide receiver Danny Lewis and picked off Grimes’ pass at the Bell 30, then broke Kevin Jones’ tackle and stayed in bounds, barely. That came with 1:19 left in the first quarter, after both teams had been able to move the ball but not to put it in the end zone.

But it was on the first play of the fourth quarter with Bell leading, 14-6, that Bowen, a cornerback on defense and a wide receiver on offense, stepped over the line. With Los Angeles at its own 47, third down and one yard to go, Grimes tossed a 25-yard floating pass that Lewis failed to catch after Bowen bumped him four times going down the left sideline. Pass interference on Bowen, first down, a drive rejuvenated.

Los Angeles subsequently moved the ball to the seven-yard line, where on third and goal, Grimes attempted another pass to Lewis, this time in the right corner of the end zone. Bowen was there, his hands seemingly wrapped tightly around Lewis’ waist as the ball landed incomplete. No flag.

“He (Bowen) was all over me,” Lewis said. “He was holding me--pass interference--but he (the referee) didn’t see it. Rather, he didn’t call it. I think he saw it. It seems like they (the officials) were out against us. It’s hard to get your spirit up.”

On Los Angeles’ final real drive, Bowen again hammered Lewis, this time on a third-and-18 pass from the Bell 24. Again, there was no flag.

“Time after time, he (Bowen) was hitting Lewis and they didn’t call it once,” Los Angeles Coach John Watson said. “It’s the worse officiating I’ve ever seen.”

Bell scored its second touchdown on Javier Mendez’s 15-yard run through a gaping hole early in the second quarter. Los Angeles drove 75 yards in 19 plays late in the same quarter, only to fail on fourth and four at the Bell five.