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With the Blue fans out-yelling the Red fans, and Bishop Amat leading Lakewood 17-13, everything was going the visitors’ way. That was until Kevin Anderson caught a punt on his own 35-yard line with seconds left in the third quarter. The senior took the short kick to the sideline, and with the help of a crushing block from Donald West, took it 65 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
The Lancer offense was off track most of the night, but the Anderson punt return woke them up and Lakewood scored two more times to beat Bishop Amat, 34-17, in the quarterfinals of the CIF Pac-5 playoffs. It wasn’t the only time the punt unit came up big.
“It’s an offensive play for us,” said coach Thadd MacNeal about the Lakewood punt return. “We expect them to make plays for us, and obviously it helps to have those dynamic athletes back there.”
“We practice hard at it,” said Anderson of the return game. The ASU-bound receiver also had three catches for first downs in the second half. “I didn’t see [West’s] hit, but I heard it. It was so loud. It was like I put headphones on to listen to music. It was all I heard, and then there was no one in front of me [laughing] so I just cruised in. It was text book.”
Amat did not go quietly into the night—even after the punt return—and grabbed momentum by the throat on the first play of the second half when quarterback Jerry McClanahan lofted it to Darien Johnson on a screen pass. The senior, who had six catches for 100 yards, took it 61 yards to the Lakewood 20 yard line. Four plays later running back Jay Anderson punched it in from a yard out to make it 17-13 Amat.
The quick score got the Amat fans chanting and Lakewood went three-and-out on the ensuing drive. The Lancers from La Puente had a chance to go up by seven on the next drive, but they missed a 23-yard field goal.
Lakewood quarterback Jesse Scroggins threw an interception on the next Lancer possession, but two penalties pushed Amat back, and then they kicked it to Kevin Anderson.
“That’s a good football team over there, they wore us down,” said MacNeal. “The punt return electrified us… then the defense did what they’ve been doing all year.”
Anderson, the Amat running back and leader on offense, carried the ball 22 times for only 55 yards and two touchdowns. But 38 of those yards came on the Lancers’ eight minute, 80 yard touchdown drive in the first half to make it 13-7. His longest carry of the night was in the second quarter for 13 yards.
Lakewood took the 13-0 lead after just eight minutes of play with two touchdown passes from Scroggins to running backs Alley Long and Terrance Woods. Setting the tone and/or foreshadowing, both scoring drives were set up on punt plays. Darius Powe returned the first punt of the night to the eight-yard line before Scroggins found Long, and on Amat’s second punt attempt West tripped up the punter after he dropped the snap. Scroggins hit Woods for the 35-yard touchdown on the next play.
Scroggins added two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and finished 11-for-19 with 124 yards and four touchdowns. Lakewood gained 134 yards on the ground on 24 carries, compared to Amat’s net total of 25 yards on the ground. The Red Swarm had ten tackles for loss—which included six sacks, four of them from Justin Utupo.
“He’s our leader, and there’s a reason he’s going to Notre Dame,” said MacNeal of senior defensive lineman. “He just wills us not to lose.”
Lakewood will take on Edison next Friday. Come back to LBPostSports for all the previews as the Lancers head to the semifinals for the second straight year.