<\/p>\n
Lakewood football finishes the 2009 season with a lot of history made\u2014they beat Poly, won the Moore League title, and advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year for the first time since 1970.\u00a0 <\/span>They also finished with two losses, the second coming when no coach or player wants it to, in the last game of the season, as Edison defeated them 37-29.\u00a0 <\/span>For the second straight year, the Lancers were ousted in the semis in a game that deserved to be the championship, in a rousing back-and-forth affair that featured big swings, deep bombs, and big hits, as well as a 16-point comeback by the Lancers.<\/p>\n For the first few drives, it looked like Lakewood would dominate, as they put consistent pressure on Edison QB Matt Viles, and drove 58 yards in four plays to score a touchdown on their first drive, thanks to a Jesse Scroggins 8-yard TD run.\u00a0 <\/span>The Chargers were held to a second three-and-out, but on their next drive, broke free the way Lakewood knew they eventually would, with a five-minute, nine-play, 57-yard touchdown drive, led by pinpoint passing from Viles, who made big play after big play and finished 24-35 for 283 yards and three scores, completing passes to seven receivers.<\/p>\n Edison got their second score to go up 14-7 (part of a 23-point unanswered streak) on a 35-yard pass from Viles to Jeff Trojan, Edison’s leading receiver with 7 catches for 99 yards and the score (they had three receivers with 50+ yards)\u2014then Lakewood got the opportunity they needed\u2026but couldn’t convert.\u00a0 <\/span>Edison punter Markus Trujillo couldn\u2019t handle a high snap and Lakewood was all over it, tackling the Charger to give their offense the ball on the Edison 17, with two minutes on the clock.\u00a0 <\/span>But the Lancers stalled, going three-and-out, and having the field goal attempt blocked\u2014so the score was 14-7 at halftime, after Lakewood’s D came up with the big play again in forcing a Viles fumble as he had his team in the red zone.<\/p>\n The second half opened in Edison’s favor as well, as they went 57 yards in four plays for a touchdown, then forced a three-and-out to set up another 70-yard, five-minute field goal drive, thanks to a first-and-goal stand to the Lakewood D.\u00a0 <\/span>At that point, the Lancers were definitely starting to look tired, but in maintaining the bend-don’t-break philosophy they kept their team in the game, down just two scores, 23-7.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Still, there were heavy pads on the Lakewood sideline, and momentum was definitely wearing green and yellow\u2014until Terrance Woods snatched it right back with a kickoff return for a touchdown.\u00a0 <\/span>After Jesse Scroggins’ inhuman effort to get the two-point conversion (he literally broke seven tackles), Lakewood was suddenly down by just one score, with three left in the third.\u00a0 <\/span>After a Justin Utupo sack of Viles gave Lakewood the ball back, they struck quickly, with a 48-yard Scroggins-to-Kevin Anderson hook up that put them in scoring position\u2014Scroggins then hit Utupo over the middle for a touchdown, and found Darius Powe on the 2PC, to tie it\u2014five minutes after they were down 16 with no hope, it was 23-23 with ten minutes left in the game.<\/p>\n But Lakewood’s defense was tired\u2014they spent ten minutes of the third quarter on the field, and Edison’s offense was too much, going sixty yards before Viles put another pass in the end zone to go up by seven.\u00a0 <\/span>The Lancers’ offense started to get going, but a Woods fumble turned the ball over, and Edison quickly capitalized with another score to go up by 14.\u00a0 <\/span>Lakewood got a touchdown on a Scroggins to Ron Lewis pass, but Edison got enough yardage to run the clock out, and end Lakewood’s season.<\/p>\n The key seemed to be Edison’s ability to utilize their running game (183 yards) to soften up Lakewood’s pass rush.\u00a0 <\/span>Once they shifted into their double-TE set and started pounding it, it took away a lot of options for the Lancers.\u00a0 <\/span>“And we had too many three-and-outs,” said Lakewood coach Thadd MacNeal.\u00a0 <\/span>“We can’t leave our defense out on the field that long.”<\/p>\n It’s an especially hard loss for Utupo and Scroggins, who both battled valiantly and made play after play\u2014Scroggins’ negated to some extent by a drop-happy receiving corps (eight drops in the game).\u00a0 <\/span>“We fought,” said MacNeal.\u00a0 <\/span>“But it just wasn’t enough tonight.”<\/p>\n The Lancers close the book on an historic chapter of their school’s history, as MacNeal and his seniors helped elevate the Lakewood program to new heights\u2014but it’s likely that, even with the pile of accomplishments behind them, the sting of going toe-to-toe with the state’s best and coming up just short will linger for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a wild game with a lot of momentum swings, but the last ones fell for Edison, who knocked Lakewood out of the CIF semifinals with a 37-29 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