Lakewood Lancers vs. Mission Viejo Diablos
Friday @ Lakewood High School, 7:30pm
CIFSS Playoffs Round 2
Mike: Let’s first start the preview by acknowledging that Lakewood is on the tear of all tears right now. Since getting Jerry Stone back, they’ve scored 118 points while going 3-0, and won by an average of 19 points. In other words—yes, the match ups are important, but just as important as that is Lakewood’s momentum, which will likely be bolstered by a rowdy home crowd when they host Mission Viejo this Friday.
They’ll be fielding, with Stone, one of the most complete offenses still in the CIF bracket. Quarterback Jesse Scroggins has the ability to pick a team apart from the pocket, and he’s got great wideouts in Tofi Tiedemann and Kevin Anderson, as well as a massive offensive line to keep his jersey spiffy. Add playmaker Jerry Stone in there at running back—a player with the potential to break a long one every play—coupled with his ability to catch passes out of the backfield…well, that sounds like the high school version of the 2000 St. Louis Rams. Mission Viejo’s D is pretty good, but they’ve given up big numbers to teams not nearly as good as the Lancers (37 to San Clemente and 31 to Dana Hills).
What may end up being a bigger problem than scoring is holding Mission Viejo’s offense down—they’ve got that great quarterback, and it was the Lancer pass defense that gave up the two long TD drives against Servite in the final minutes of the game last week. JJ, how do you think Lakewood’s D matches up against that Mission Viejo offensive attack?
JJ: That great quarterback is Cal-bound Allan Bridgford, and that offensive attack has racked up 3000 yards passing, 1845 yards rushing, and is averaging 45 points this season. Last week, the 6’4” senior quarterback went 18 for 26, with 303 yards and 2TD in a 37-7 win over Loyola. Both of Bridgford’s touchdowns were to Jake Marshall, who finished the night with 124 yards on 22 carries. Needless to say, the Lancers will have their hands full this week.
The key for the Lancer D will obviously be Bridgford; either on his feet, or on his back. In the Diablos only loss of the year, Bridgford saw a blitz from the Tesoro Titans defense almost every play. The speedy Tesoro linebackers got five sacks and forced four interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. Bridgford had throw two interceptions coming into that game, and has three since.
In that same game, Tesoro’s running back Zach Mitchell carried the ball 30 times for 171 yards. Tesoro jumped out in front early, and Mission Viejo had to play catch up. The Diablos had to throw the ball, which teed up Bridgford for the Tesoro backers to come get.
Lakewood’s best shot at winning is taking the Tesoro approach. The offense must maintain drives and score early so that when Bridgford and his high-powered attack take the field, they must become one-dimensional. That’s when the Red Swarm can pin the ears back and really get after it. The more aggressive Lakewood stays in this one, the better chance they have of winning.