Matadores come up with big rally to stun Rams
LONG BEACH >> La Mirada went to its strengths down the stretch, utilizing its hard-nosed run game and no-frills defense Friday night to rally from a 17-point, second-half deficit and pull out a last-minute victory in a nonleague showdown at Millikan.
Eddie Lafferre, bashing up the middle nearly every time he touched the ball, ran for 133 yards on 27 carries, the last 4 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds to play to give the Matadores a 27-26 advantage.
Lafferre, who posted his third successive 100-plus rushing performance, then intercepted Millikan sophomore quarterback Myles Jackson on fourth down to secure the triumph, La Mirada’s third straight win after dropping its season-opener.
It required a huge Rams mistake, a pass rush absent much of the game, and the Matadores’ third scoring drive of more than six minutes — saved by a key fourth-down completion — to achieve, leading to a wild onfield celebration.
“We’re a fourth-quarter team, we’re a second-half team,” Lafferre declared afterward. “We found our adjustments, and we get it done in the second half . ... I try my best. I give 110 percent every time I have the ball, and that’s what I did today.”
La Mirada head coach Mike Moschetti called Lafferre “a typical tough La Mirada Latino kid.”
“He’s banged up, he goes both ways, he gets you 4 yards when you need to get 4 yards ...,” Moschetti said. “The key to the game was we had to be able to run the ball (on a skilled Millikan defense). We needed to slow down the game, needed to eat up clock, try to keep their offense off the field, and our kids kept fighting, and that’s what I’m most proud of.
“(Millikan has) all these skill guys running all over the place, and our kids fight and play hard, and we found a way to grind out a victory.”
Millikan (1-3), ranked seventh in the Press-Telegram Top 10, took advantage of a Matadores error in building toward a 23-6 advantage almost midway through the third quarter.
The Rams had gone ahead on Noah Scott’s 29-yard field goal barely a minute and a half into the game — set up by Ryan Pellum’s 28-yard punt return — and the teams then traded long drives that left the home team with a 10-6 edge for most of the second quarter.
La Mirada, ranked eighth, had gone 80 yards on a dozen plays, Lafferre running the ball seven times for 48 yards, to take a 6-3 lead on the senior’s 4-yard push into the end zone. The pass attempt for 2 points failed.
Millikan responded with its most methodical drive, going 88 yards in 16 plays over a bit more than 6 minutes. There were four key third-down conversions on Jackson throws or scrambles during the drive. Pellum sprinted in from the 4 to restore the Rams’ edge.
The Matadores drove to Millikan’s 31 before breaking down on their next drive, stopped the Rams on a three-and-out — with help from one of 13 Millikan penalties totaling 118 yards — and then fumbled on their next offensive play.
Junior quarterback Nehuel Garcia hit John Ojeisekhoba on the right sideline with a short pass, but he lost the ball when hit and Angelo Miranda picked it up and raced 34 yards to the end zone for a 17-6 lead.
The Rams put up a goalline stand just before halftime, twice dropping Lafferre for 1-yard losses after La Mirada drove from its 27 to the Millikan 4 and forcing a Garcia incompletion in the end zone on fourth down.
La Mirada prevented the Rams from adding to their lead at the start of the third quarter, Aidan Nasser blocking Scott’s 41-yard field-goal attempt, but then failed to convert a fake punt on fourth-and-5, giving Millikan the ball at the 28.
Three plays later, and after a personal-foul flag pushed the Rams back from the 5 to the 23, Jackson hit Tacario Davis — who caught four passes for 50 yards as Jackson’s key target with Matt Martinez one of five starters sidelined — at the 20 on the left sideline. Davis cut inside, sprinting past several defenders, and when Scott’s extra point (following a 5-yard penalty) sailed wide, the lead was 17 points with 7:09 to play in the third quarter.
La Mirada was in charge most of the rest of the way. It took six minutes to go 80 yards for a touchdown, with Garcia, who converted on fourth down at the Rams 41 with a 7-yard run after fumbling the snap, hitting a sliding Dillon Nichols in the end zone from 7 yards.
Millikan went nowhere after the kickoff, and then punter Daniel Arroyo dropped the snap and was taken down at the Rams 23 three plays into the fourth quarter. Garcia, who completed 12 of 19 passes for 143 yards, hit Ojeisekhoba at the 13, Lafferre ran for 2 and then for 10, and Garcia pushed in from the 1 to trim the deficit to 3.
The Rams marched from their 20 to the La Mirada 10, most of it on successive completions to Pellum for 34 yards and Miranda for 32. A sack on first down and batted-down pass on third down brought out Scott for a 27-yard field goal and a 2620 lead with 7:08 to play.
The Matadores then drove 80 yards on 12 plays for the winning score. Lafferre hit the end zone. The score came two plays after Garcia, on fourthand-3 from Millikan’s 49, found Xavier Hicks open on the right flat for a 27-yard gain.
“Our offensive line, we challenged them when we got the ball back,” said Moschetti, whose team gained 203 yards rushing, with Amel White contributing 49 on 12 carries. “We said we’re going to grind this out, eat up the 7 minutes and score, and the offensive line got off the ball and did a good job. We made plays when we had to make plays, and we’re going to feel good about this one tonight.”
La Mirada claimed the win by putting heavy pressure on Jackson, who completed 12 of 21 passes for 181 yards and ran for another 54 on 11 carries. On the final possession, he was called for intentional grounding on second down at his 35, then