Lakewood High dominated the second half, and much of the game, as they reclaimed the Milk Bucket from their cross-town rival Mayfair, 40-3, at Bellflower High’s Ron Yary Stadium on Friday.

The Lancers (1-2) scored 20 unanswered points in the third quarter and didn’t look back on the way to their first victory of the season.

Mayfair did have a few chances, though. With Lakewood up 14-0 in the second quarter, Mayfair (1-2) took the ball at midfield with 46 seconds remaining. Quarterback Jordan Lane lobbed a pass to Jordan Wilson for a 20 yard gain. The 6’4” receiver fought to get out of bounds—and did with 21 seconds left. Four plays and a penalty later, the ball on the Lakewood six, Lane tried Wilson again. This time, Lakewood corner Chris Atkins was flagged for pass interference.

That put the ball on Lakewood’s three-yard line with 1.4 seconds remaining. It was decision time for Mayfair coach Mike Fitch: get the field goal and go into halftime 14-3, or go for the touchdown. Fitch lined up the offensive unit, and for the fourth time in six plays, Lane lofted a pass to Wilson. This time, Atkins was ready and he knocked the ball out of Wilson’s grasp at the last second. That was as close as Mayfair got to making it a game.

Lakewood took the second half kickoff and went 75 yards on five plays and scored on running back Alex Fletcher’s second of three touchdowns. Lakewood scored on two of their next three drives to seal the victory.

“I’ve got a bunch of big guys in front of me who just want to play,” said Fletcher, who finished with 122 yards on 18 carries. “The Bucket is nice, but we just needed to make a statement and get our first win.”

The Lakewood defense made a statement as well, holding the Mayfair offense under 100 yards until the fourth quarter when the second stringers took over.

“I think we have a real good defense when we play ‘assignment’ football,” said Lakewood coach Thadd MacNeal. “We can really get after people.”

The game started slowly with stalled drives on both sides of the ball, but Lakewood stuck to their plan: give the ball to running back Cedric Moore up the middle, and then let Fletcher run around them. Moore carried the ball only 11 times but racked up 71 yards while pounding the Mayfair defense. As the Monsoons got tired, Fletcher got more room to run, and that’s really all he needs.

“Alex is a special back,” MacNeal said. “It’s our job to get him into space and let him do what he does.”

As for drinking out of the Milk Bucket in celebration, MacNeal laughed, “No, I don’t think I’ll be drinking out of that thing.”

The players thought otherwise.

“I might,” said Fletcher who has scored seven touchdowns against Mayfair in the last two years. “It might be dirty, but hey, football is dirty.”

Lakewood will take their newfound confidence into next week when they’ll host a strong Kennedy High team, while Mayfair gets ready for Western High to come to Bellflower.

OTHER GAMES:
Jordan 17, Diamond Bar 16: The Panthers won their second game in a row for the first time in two seasons as running back Tylik Carter ran the ball with ease, scoring twice in the first half. Jordan’s defense stayed strong against the run and stopped Diamond Bar twice in the fourth quarter on would be game-winning drives.
Poly 34, Newport Harbor 7
Los Altos 39, Wilson 7
St. John Bosco 35, Cabrillo 0
Compton 54, Hawthorne 0

Tags: Sports

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D. Peeve 1 year ago 1 point
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Taking their cue from The District website's coverage of high school football, local educators today declared that high school athletics would henceforth be considered performance art.

"We zeroed out our athletics budgets and increased our expenditures on the arts by about a kazillion percent," said Bud "Bud" Jockstrap, Moore League Fine Arts Director. "Let's hear those whiny parents of uncoordinated kids complain about THAT!"

Jockstrap also said it was about time that high school dancers, musicians, ceramicists, photographers and painters recognized the superior artistry of the popular games of physical skill played by their schoolmates.

"Kids who want to create compelling portraiture or who aspire to play challenging Coltranesque solos in the jazz band are finally taking a back seat to the athletes," Jockstrap said. "The District got it right, and I hope our young people are listening: unless you're a boy exposing yourself to high risk of orthopedic and spinal injury as a member of a highly regimented team playing a violent game at the sub-sub-professional level, who cares?"

Local readers seconded Jockstrap's praise for The District's adventurous news coverage.

"That horendous Long Beach daily was where I used to find run-of-the-mill, insipid and soporific high school sports reporting--but not any more," said Myrtle Glunder, high school fine arts booster. "Now I can click on The District's website and save on the price of a newspaper subscription -- and still get all the dispensable news content I crave!"

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