The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
You’d be hard pressed to script a better start for the Millikan offense in their home opener against Newbury Park on Friday night at DeHaven Stadium.
Fortunately for the Rams, their perfect start lent itself to a nearly flawless performance as the defending Moore League champs put the hammer down on the visiting Panthers with a 49-20 victory.
It’s quite the turnaround from a 52-15 loss the Rams suffered at Newbury Park to begin last season, as the Panthers went on to a 14-1 record and a CIF-SS Division 2 championship. It’s far too early to know what type of team Newbury Park will have this time around, but they do still have 5-star quarterback and Michigan commit Brady Smigiel orchestrating their offense.
As Millikan controlled the action from start to finish, they committed just five penalties and didn’t turn the ball over, leaving head coach Romeo Pellum understandably pleased after the game. The performance was especially impressive, given the absence of a number of starters on both sides of the ball for Millikan.
“Obviously, we had guys out, but we feel like our ones and our twos can play with anybody,” said Pellum, now in his seventh season at Millikan. “Our defense, the guys came up with a hell of a game plan. Offense, I mean, they were moving the ball, they played f—ing lights out, dude. This is probably the most complete game that we’ve had since I’ve been at Millikan.”
Senior quarterback Ashton Pannell lit it up with an incredible stat line for Millikan, outplaying his highly touted counterpart who he knows well. The Rams signal caller was 9/11 through the air with 333 yards passing and four TDs. He added 46 yards on the ground and a fifth TD on a seven-yard keeper.
“I wanted to make sure that a lot of people put respect on my name too,” said Pannell of his performance on a big stage. “Going into it, my main focus was really on their defense, not on the quarterback. We train with the same quarterback coach, we’re good friends, but you know, I just wanted to win. I wanted to go 2-0 and be 1-0 on the week.”
Millikan opened the scoring on the second play of the game, as a swing pass from Pannell to Landon Ross (4 catches, 142 yards) turned into a 77-yard TD scamper. After a fumble recovery by Jude Nelson on a bad snap over Smigiel’s head, the Rams immediately doubled their lead.
Sophomore running back Ryan Carter (11 touches, 98 yards) took a handoff on the first play of the ensuing drive and scampered in untouched from 35 yards out to make it 14-0 Millikan less than three minutes into the game.
The Rams’ next drive took just three plays, culminating in a 65-yard strike to Diamond Graham, who left his defender in the dust on a go route.
The aerial onslaught continued in the second quarter, with the first play going for another long Millikan score. Pannell connected with Nelson over the middle and he raced 59 yards for the score, making it a 28-12 Rams lead.
On Millikan’s first eight plays from scrimmage, they gained 263 yards and scored four touchdowns. During that ludicrous stretch, Pannell was 3/3 for 201 yards and three scores.
“We had 15 scripted plays, and I think in the first half we probably ran five,” said Pannell with a smile. “Everything was working for us. So that felt great.”
The Millikan lead would grow after freshman Khyon Wilson intercepted Smigiel in the end zone, getting the ball right back to the Rams’ offense. This time, Pannell led a 10-play scoring drive, which he capped off with his TD run to make it a 34-12 Rams lead at the half.
Newbury Park was able to pull back within two scores late in the third quarter, but the Rams put the game away from there. Pannell linked up with junior Jay Williams for a 33-yard score, then Jairius Laumasima collected his first of two interceptions for the Millikan defense.
That set up freshman QB Jonah Tuaniga to lead the final scoring drive of the evening, connecting with Nelson for a short TD toss on 4th & goal. Nelson finished with four catches for 95 yards and a pair of TDs, with a third long touchdown waved off due to a penalty later in the game.
Laumasima was part of a Millikan secondary that recorded three interceptions against one of the state’s best quarterbacks, and held a prolific offense to just three scores.
“It feels great, and I want to thank God, I’m just happy,” said Laumasima, overcome with excitement after the game. “Coming out, Coach Rome just asked us if we’re going to slide for him and we just slid, that’s how it goes … I’m excited, but we’ve got to forget about it tomorrow and just keep working for the next day. Loyola on the clock.”
Smigiel made his fair share of plays, but had a much tougher time against Millikan than he did a year ago. He finished 29/46 for 322 yards, 3 total TDs (one rushing) and 3 INTs. RB Tyler Stromsoe had 131 yards rushing for Newbury Park, but needed 25 carries to get there.
The victory will certainly vault the Rams up the CalPreps rankings. That system predicted a 31-point win by Newbury Park in this matchup, and obviously those numbers will need to be adjusted after how things actually went on Friday night.
“It just shows that our guys have a lot of grit,” said Pellum of his team beating the reigning D2 champs. “We went from Division 9 to where we are now. We’re a Division 2/3 program. I tell the coaches and the kids, no matter where they put us, we’ve got to saddle up and play. We don’t duck anything, whoever it is we’re going to show up, we’re going to be prepared, and we’re going to play. I’m just really pleased with where we are, but we’re a long way away.”
The Rams will look to keep things rolling next Friday night and improve to 3-0 as they host the Loyola Cubs at 7 p.m.
