Photo by Bill Sampson

If you read the LBPostSports preview of this game or listened to the SportsNight football episode, you know that we were expecting Millikan/Cabrillo to be a shootout.  We weren’t disappointed.  In a game that was both closer and more lopsided than the score indicates, Millikan beat Cabrillo 41-30 to go to 1-0 in the Moore League, 4-1 overall, while the loss leaves Cabrillo with the hope that they can end their epic losing streak.

The story of the first half was the play of Millikan QB Alden Darby.  Usually Darby splits time with Paul Slater, but with Slater too injured to play QB- he did come back this week at DB- the quarterback position was all Darby’s and he made the most of it.  However anyone that follows the Rams knows that just because you’re QB doesn’t mean you get out of other responsibilities; Darby continued to play DB, and continued kick-returning. 

On the opening kickoff, Millikan’s Aamil Muhammad fielded it and went to his right, taking most of the Jaguar defense with him, while Darby came back to his left.  Muhammad handed the ball to Darby who took the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.  Cabrillo’s coverage team lost containment, and Darby got to the corner so fast that as he turned upfield (at his own 20 yard line), Millikan coach Kirk Diego yelled “touchdown!” despite the fact that the ball carrier was still 80 yards from the end zone. 

On the ensuing drive Cabrillo QB Derek Stewart was picked off by Millikan’s Jerrell Bradford- his 4^th pick in 5 games- however it might have been a costly interception, on the return Bradford got his legged rolled up on.  He continued to play but throughout the game he was noticed hobbled.  The return though did give the Rams good field position- after seven straight runs, on the 8^th play of the drive Darby found Justin Dobard for the touchdown to put them ahead 13-0.

Already down big early, the Jaguars continued to make mistakes that dug the hole deeper.  On the next drive they would move it 51 yards before fumbling and letting the Rams recover.  It would take only a couple plays before Millikan running back Darius Handy broke a 65 yard touchdown run, part of his 10 carry, 103 yard first half.  After a Cabrillo three-and-out, Darby would score for Millikan with a 17yard touchdown run.  And suddenly it was 27-0.  A roughing the passer penalty would keep the next Cabrillo drive alive, but it was the run game that came alive on the drive.  Eight of their 11 plays were on the ground, and the 59 yard drive ended in the end zone. 

Darby would lead Millikan to immediately respond with a 4 play drive culminating in an amazing 59 yard run by the QB.  All told for the first half Darby would end up with 6 of 7 passing for 32 yards and a TD, 7 carries for 83 yards and 2 TDs, and an 85 yard kickoff return for a TD.  That’s 200 yards of total offense, and 4 TDs…in the first half!  After the game, Cabrillo coach AJ Luke would say: “That dude (Darby) is the real deal.”  It was 34-6 at halftime.

But something happened at halftime, because Cabrillo was a much better team in the 2^nd half.  Midway through the 3^rd, the Jags showed something that was missing the first four weeks- a power running game.  Lead by AJ Mapuatuli and Tashon Young, with a little bit of speedy Jamal Morgan mixed in, Cabrillo would score on an 8-play, 42-yard (all of it on the ground.)  The Rams responded with a 13-play (11 of them running,) 80-yard drive to make it 41-12 but Cabrillo to their credit continued to play. 

Moving back away from the run temporarily, Derek Stewart found Derek Speight who took it 56 yards for a touchdown.  A couple drives later it was back to the ground and all Tyrone Swinton for another Jaguar touchdown and suddenly it was 41-24. But Millikan was able to milk more clock and Cabrillo just didn’t have enough time.  The Jags got the ball back with 2 minutes to go, and scored with no time left, to end the game 41-30.  That score itself is misleading because Cabrillo went for two every time and did not pick up a single one- it they had taken the PATs instead it could have been 41-35. 

After the game, when asked about a blowout turning into a somewhat close game, Coach Diego said: “It’s disappointing that we played the way we did in the second half.”  Meanwhile this marks another big comeback, that fell short, for Cabrillo after doing nearly the same thing against Paramount a few weeks ago, which prompted Coach Luke to ask: “Can I just get 4^th fourth quarters?”  Luke even joked that he should schedule a game before the game so that his guys will play hard earlier.  

Immediately afterwards though both coaches were looking to next week.  Millikan takes on Wilson, who had a bye this week.  Coach Diego was especially flattering towards his Wilson counterpart: “Mario (Morales) does a tremendous job, I think he’s as good a coach as there is.  He has those guys ready every single week.”  And Diego did note that Wilson’s added time only makes them more dangerous, particularly because of their reputation for trick plays: “They’ve had two weeks to invent stuff.”  But for the time being, he and Millikan can enjoy their spot at the top of the Moore League.

Meanwhile, another loss is disappointing for AJ Luke and Cabrillo, after another strong 4^th quarter gives him hope for next week’s game against Compton.  The worry of course is Cabrillo’s run defense that got torn apart again, but Compton’s no ordinary running team.  Luke said: “Lucky for us, we’ve been playing some Wing-T teams.  (Lincoln, Paramount, Bell Gardens)  We know the Wing-T, we’ve just got to stop it.”  With the emergence of their own running game and with the continued improvement of the entire team, Luke still believes they are going to get that win this year: “We’re not giving up.”