High school football roundup: La Mirada prevails against Orange Lutheran

It’s hard to imagine a win in a season opener matching what La Mirada High School accomplished last season by winning CIF Southe Section and CIF State Bowl championships.

But Friday might be the exception.

The Matadores, outscored 118-15 in two games against Trinity League foes last year, enjoyed that championship feeling after scoring a 21-14 victory over Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College.

The host Lancers began the season ranked No. 14 in the state by MaxPreps.com.

Nick Heandez led the Matadores with 177 yards rushing and scored the game-winner on a 4-yard run with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter.

“As bad as this sounds, we made so many mistakes, offensively,” La Mirada coach Mike Moschetti said. “But these kids battled and battled through it. I’m proud of these kids, I’m proud of this program. We worked extremely hard for this. It was our goal back in January to come out and play well against Orange Lutheran.”

Orange Lutheran led 14-7 at halftime, but La Mirada got back in it when RJ Lan pressured Orange Lutheran quarterback Ryan Hilinski, resulting in a 56-yard interception retu for a touchdown to tie it at 14 with 5:37 left in the third quarter.

La Mirada then went 74 yards in the fourth quarter to win it. The 15-play drive was helped by a 17-yard run by RJ Lan on a fake punt.

Heandez and Gabe Barbara, who had a 17-yard run inside the Lancers’ 17, did the rest, with Heandez running it in from the 4 for the lead.

La Mirada then stopped two drives by Orange Lutheran before running out the clock.

“We were going to go after this game,” Moschetti said. “We weren’t going to play it timid. The fake punt was there, so we took it, and then our offensive line took over the game.”

Stan Berryhill led Orange Lutheran with five receptions for 120 yards and two scores. The second came on a 71-yard catch and run from Hilinski to give the Lancers the halftime edge at 14-7.

Earlier, La Mirada had tied it at 7 after Elijah Hicks retued a punt 50 yards to set up a 35-yard pass from Tristan Meyer to Jeremy Clark with 3:28 left in the half.

–Stephen Ramirez

Cabrillo 19, Bellflower 0 >> Cabrillo triumphed in a defensive battle.

Jaguars junior quarterback Denalyn Fuimaono contributed to all three scores for Cabrillo, running for two and throwing another to senior wide receiver Dairion Samples.

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Sloppiness was the story of the game from both sides, with five overall fumbles, three of which were recovered by the defense. The first came on the opening kickoff, which Bellflower recovered and took over at the Jaguar 29-yard line.

Fuimaono put the game away with an 8-yard score with a little under a minute to go in the second half.

–James Crabtree-Hannigan

Gahr 41, Valley Christian 14 >> Before the season, Gahr head coach Greg Marshall said this year’s Gladiators were “as solid of a group as we’ve had in a while.”

Gahr forced multiple tuovers and caused havoc for the Crusader offense.

Gahr running back Latrell Steas was the star of the game as he rushed for more than 180 yards and two touchdowns, wearing down the Crusader defense.

A scary play took place late in the first half as Frutos took a helmet to the knee and remained down on the ground for several minutes while being attended to by team doctors. He walked off under his own power and played a few series in the second half. After the game, Marshall said he hopes Frutos can stay healthy for the whole year as he already has a bad knee.

–Julian Lopez

Aliso Niguel 43, Jordan 33 >> The post-Torrian Hilbert era began Friday night and Jordan High School needed a plan to replace its all-everything stalwart.

Aliso Niguel placed its offensive load on the shoulders of senior Andre Cotton. In a thrilling opening week battle that featured four second-half lead changes, Aliso Niguel spoiled Jordan’s home opener with a 43-33 victory.

Cotton began his senior season by rushing for over 200 yards and scoring four touchdowns. His 74-yard TD run, with 4:39 left to play, climaxed a night in which he also caught a 16-yard scoring pass and a 56-yard screen pass touchdown.

Jordan’s loss also could be quite costly. Loaisiga was injured late in the third quarter and was unable to retu.

“I think it’s his knee,” Jordan coach John Kane said. “I’m disappointed. We just made too many mistakes.”

–Art Thompson III

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