Lakewood keeps playoff hopes alive with victory
LAKEWOOD ❯❯ Lakewood used a potent offense to jump out to a big first-half lead against Wilson and never looked back in a 41-27 victory in a Moore League showdown on Friday night.
With the Lancers (4-5, 3-2) needing to win to keep their CIF-SS playoff hopes alive, sophomore quarterback Kade Casillas delivered a big game, completing 16 of 23 pass attempts for 207 yards and four touchdown passes. He added a 1-yard touchdown run in the first half. He was able to put together a strong performance despite getting sacked six times and turning the ball over on a fumble.
Lakewood coach Justin Utupo spoke about the significance of the game while also heaping praise on his young quarterback.
“Obviously our season stays alive. That was our message throughout the week: `Do you want this to be your last game here at home or do you want to give yourself a chance to potentially host a playoff game?'” Utupo asked.
“Hats off to Casillas, a young sophomore. You've seen him kind of grow up throughout the season,” Utupo added. “We're going to continue to lean on him. He's able to do some great things in the air and on the ground.”
Casillas did the majority of the damage in the first half, utilizing his receivers in the middle of the field and then scrambling out of trouble and keeping plays alive with his quick feet. He also showed off his arm strength by throwing some very impressive deep passes that led to some big scores.
He had a 43-yard touchdown pass to receiver Cecil Xavier-Smith and a 52yard bomb to receiver Caleb Tafua, who finished with 77 receiving yards on four catches and two TDs.
Casillas spoke about the offense working well and his connection with Tafua.
“That's that sophomoreto-sophomore connection, we've been going,” Casillas said on Tafua. “We scored on almost every drive, which was huge. (We left) our defense off the field and in big games like that, it's what we need.”
The Lancers stalled in the second half with numerous penalties on both sides of the ball, which kept Wilson
(3-6, 2-4) in the game.
Utupo wasn't happy with how undisciplined his team was and that it accumulated silly penalty yards.
“You want to be a great football team, you can't have penalties like that at the end of games, especially when you want to put the game away in the second half,” Utupo said. “I thought we did a great job starting fast on both sides of the football, we just got to put all four quarters of football together and have better composure and have short-term memories.”
For the Bruins there was no miracle comeback this week. They fought hard to stay alive, but fell behind early yet again and came up short.
The Bruins continued to show determination and grit as it cashed in on mistakes by Lakewood. After a second-quarter fumble recovery, Wilson marched down the field and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back
Laighton Scott to cut the deficit to 20-13.
In the fourth quarter, amidst several unsportsmanlike penalties, the Bruins again took advantage as quarterback Mack Cooper found receiver Andrew Bond for a 31-yard strike to make it a twoscore game.
However, the Bruins got not closer as their playoff hopes took a big hit with another Moore League loss.
Lakewood got solid games from junior running back Nytrell Miller, who had 53 total yards and a 12yard receiving touchdown. Senior running back Charlie Wright had nine carries for 50 yards and a 16-yard rushing touchdown.
The Bruins were led by Scott, who finished with 62 rushing yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Senior running back Christian Chapman had 15 carries for 55 yards and receiver Azaan Tabari scored on a 40-yard catch in the fourth quarter.