MILLIKAN TEAM CROPPED

Photos by Matt Cohn

Millikan head football coach Lyn Perryman remembers the night of October 23, 2009 vividly: He was an assistant coach at the time, and the Rams, who were hosting another dominant Poly team that evening, were huge underdogs. He enjoyed the pandemonium that ensued in the packed grandstand and under the 80-foot palm trees on Palo Verde Avenue when the Rams scored an epic overtime upset win over the Jackrabbits.

He also remembers it as the last time Millikan won a Moore League game.

The program took a dip after that, reaching its nadir last season, Perryman’s first as head coach, when the Rams finished 0 – 10. And in the last three years, only one of their Moore League losses was decided by less than three touchdowns.

After last season, the players and coaches resolved to right the ship, and this year, after a 2 – 2 pre-season in which they actually scored more points than Poly and notched two come-from-behind victories on their home field, they’re confident about again being competitive in Moore League play.

“This year so far, we’ve played through adversity,” says coach Perryman. “That’s huge for us. In previous years we probably would have given up. This year, our guys haven’t given up once.” Perryman credits his players for re-dedicating themselves to the program and working hard to regain the winning attitude that won Millikan its C.I.F. championships in ’77 and ’79.

MILLIKAN 020“It’s basically the same personnel as last year,” says Perryman. “Our guys started believing that if you put the work in during the off-season, it makes for a productive year.” The increased dedication to conditioning has paid off, particularly for a core of senior linemen who play both offense and defense.

“We’re smash-mouth football,” Perryman says. “We’re basing our entire offense around the line up front.” That line includes 6′, 6″, 320-lb. tackle Ben Bond, one of the biggest players in the area, and possibly one of the biggest high school players in the country to carry a 4.0 GPA.

The player who perhaps best exemplifies Millikan’s new attitude is Dean Duggan, the first-string quarterback and middle linebacker–a VERY rare double-duty. Duggan, who was a ballboy for Millikan at age nine when his brother Sean played for the Rams, is “one of those true leaders on the field on both sides of the ball,” says coach Perryman. “He’s a throw-back kind of player. It’s like having a coach on the field.”

“I love getting hit. I love hitting people. That’s just the way I was taught,” says Duggan. The self-described “lead-by-example kind of guy” attributes Millikan’s improvement this year to “the work ethic, the determination, and the heart of the kids this year compared to last year.”

Millikan, which opens Moore League play Friday night in a home game against Compton, will have its hands full this season trying to stop the powerful, high-speed offenses of Poly and Cabrillo, and will also be in for a tough battle with their very solid arch-rival Lakewood. Wilson, which just missed one of the three available Moore League C.I.F. playoff spots last year, is hungry to get into the mix. But the Rams are confident: “We’re expecting big things,” says quarterback Duggan. “We’re hoping to sneak into the playoffs this year.” Coach Perryman, who makes it a point to praise the Millikan fans for remaining loyal, has positive expectations too. “As we showed in 2009, any team can be beaten on any given day,” he says.  

Second photo: Millikan starting quarterback/middle linebacker Dean Duggan.

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