Iamaleava’s two TD passes top Cavs
DOWNEY >> Nico Iamaleava was ready for the biggest game of his emerging football career.
The 6-foot-6 junior quarterback for Warren, who transferred from Long Beach Poly because he wanted to lead his team to big victories, did just that Friday in a 14-0 win over Serra.
Facing a long thirdand-19 late in the first quarter, Iamaleava scrambled for a first down, with hopes of igniting the Bears offense. However, a few plays later on the same possession, Iamaleava punted on fourth down.
In Warren’s first three games, the Bears scored 53, 52 and 40 points, respectively.
However, against Serra (1-3), it was the Bears’ active and aggressive defense that made the difference on their home field.
Junior cornerback Scooter Jackson intercepted backup quarterback Ciel Myles in the second quarter after senior Maalik Murphy went out with an injury. Murphy was later seen on the sidelines without his pads or jersey on, indicating his night was over by the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Iamaleava connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Joshua Jackson, which put Warren up 7-0.
The next drive ended with another 11-yard touchdown pass, this time to sophomore Jordan Anderson.
At halftime, Warren (4-0) led 14-0 against an injurydepleted Serra.
An interception by sophomore Lamarr Stephens with one minute to go sealed the game.
“(Nico is a) big, athletic kid… he’s very intelligent, tough young man, who runs the offense with ease,” said Warren coach Kevin Pearson. “He’s only played seven varsity games but he looks like he’s been the program for four years.”
Across the sidelines was supposed to be Murphy, a 6-foot-5, 235 pound senior quarterback, who has committed to play football at Texas under Steve Sarkisian.
“Maalik is an elite quarterback,” said Serra coach Scott Altenberg before the game. “He’s a great leader. He knows the offense. He’s got a lot of poise. He’s a really good athlete, throws a great football.”
However, it was junior Kai Honda who took over the reins of Serra’s offense at quarterback after Murphy and the backup Myles were knocked out of the game.
“We’ve been hit by the injury bug,” Altenberg said.
Altenberg is looking forward to getting several starters back before Serra begins Mission League play on Oct. 1 against Alemany.
In Iamaleava’s first three games of the season, he had thrown for nearly 290 yards per game and 18 touchdowns.
In his fourth game against Serra, he recovered from throwing an early interception to throw two touchdowns, bringing his season total to 20 TDs.
Iamaleave, an athletic, pro-style quarterback is ranked as one of the top five players at his position across the nation in the Class of 2023. He currently has more than a dozen Division 1 offers from big-time programs like Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA and USC.
As for Iamaleava, the sky is the limit.
“His ceiling is so high and I’m so excited about him moving forward not only from high school to the next level and beyond. He’s a special talent for sure,” Pearson said.