After opening their season with a bitter 33-30 home loss to Gahr, the Millikan Rams were thirsty for a victory.  Fueled by an explosive performance by junior Silver Vaifanua and steady production from senior quarterback Jake Holtz, the Rams topped the Bellflower Buccaneers at home with a 45-27 win.  The Rams and their 1-1 record will host Redondo next week at Millikan High.

The speedy Vaifanua stole the limelight with two electrifying touchdowns—a 74-yard kickoff return and a 55-yard interception return—and one near-score on a tightrope walking, 23-yard sideline scamper that placed the ball on the goal line and set up a touchdown punched in by teammate Jonathon Sanders.

“We just made some big plays tonight, and it all comes back to Silver,” said Millikan coach Kirk Diego, who singled out his star RB/DB as the player of the game.  But emotions were tense as Vaifanua fell to the ground in the 4th quarter and laid face down for several minutes—the result of a nasty knee to the helmet during an attempted tackle.  Coach Diego said that Vaifanua’s condition is unknown but he was alert and walking around after the game, and should be fine with a little rest.

Silver Vaifanua (23) was everywhere against the Buccaneers.

Senior quarterback Jake Holtz also impressed Coach Diego with steady, mistake-free play.  After last week’s shootout with Hawaii-bound Gahr star QB Corey Nielsen, Holtz consistently marched his offense down the field and threw for more than 175 yards.  During one stretch, Holtz connected on seven straight attempts in the first half—including a 28-yard toss to junior receiver Alden Darby.  He also scored on a quarterback sneak and racked up 21 yards on a run of his own in the second quarter.

“It’s only been two games, but [Holtz] hasn’t been making mistakes,” said Kirk, praising his quarterback’s poise in the pocket.  “Last week he threw up a Hail Mary when we needed one, and so far that’s his only interception on the season.”

One area where Diego will need to assist his quarterback is in the protection department—the 6”1’ senior was sacked five times by an undersized Bellflower defense.  Diego points out that four of Millikan’s five starting offensive linemen have been playing their positions for just two weeks, and were caught off guard by Bellflower blitzing schemes.  That’ll need to change by the time Millikan hits Moore League play, but Diego expects his normal five to be back in the next three weeks.

Senior quarterback Jake Holtz threw for more than 180 yards and completed seven straight passes during one second quarter stretch.

Millikan made plenty of mistakes of their own, the one thing that Diego says will need to be addressed come Monday practice.  Two punt snaps were botched for a total loss of more than 40 yards in the first half, and penalties continuously halted drives and even negated a spectacular touchdown run by Sanders after picking up a Vaifanua fumble and running to paydirt.

“We can be so much better if we just eliminate some of those mistakes,” Diego told his team after the game.  “We’ve got to clean things up.”

Millikan looked sharp on defense, shutting down outside routes for the run-heavy Buccaneers and picking off quarterback Jeromy Allen three times.  Up the middle, however, senior running back Malin Bradley bruised the Rams front eight for more than 180 yards and two touchdowns—including second-half runs of 61 and 23 yards.  Millikan’s intimidating secondary forced the Bucs to stick to screens and short dump passes—Allen completed just three of his final 13 pass attempts—but the Rams had no answer for the 195-lb. Bradley, who averaged 9.5 yards-per-carry in the 2nd half.

Both teams employed impatient, no-huddle offenses—good for wearing down opposing defenses but bad for sideline reporters—that kept the game moving quickly.  Millikan just simply did it better, as Holtz hit nine different receivers and nine different Rams carried the ball.  Versatile, two-way star Jonathon Sanders had a relatively quiet night statistically—with 16 yards and a TD on five rushes, and one 5-yard catch—but recorded several tackles and snagged an interception, also doubling as a dangerous kick and punt returner.  Sanders will have his golden games this season, but Friday night was all about Silver.

The gutsy junior racked up return yards and was robbed of a third TD when he was called out of bounds even though he reached the ball over the end-zone pylon on a 23-yard run.  He played both sides of the ball all night and was visibly winded on the sidelines in the second quarter, though had to be literally pulled out of the game by his coaches when they realized how much he had been playing (“Don’t be a hero!” laughed one assistant).

Millikan showed their grit against Gahr and sent a message with last night’s victory, displaying a wide-open and versatile offense with a full stable of athletes.  Expect to hear plenty of the names Darby and Sanders in our Millikan coverage this season, but the Rams debuted a future star last night in Silver Vaifanua.

Jonathon Sanders was quiet offensively but still ended up with a rushing touchdown and made several plays on defense and as a returner.

There was no answer for senior Bellflower running back Malin Bradley and his 180-plus yards on the ground.

Vaifanua tight-ropes the sideline on a 23-yard run to set up a Sanders touchdown.