The562’s football coverage for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
If you asked anyone on the Lakewood or Millikan sidelines Friday night if they thought the two most impactful plays in their clash would be two field goal attempts – you’d have a hard time finding anyone to say yes.
However, when the dust settled and the field at DeHaven Stadium cleared – it was Lakewood heading back to 4400 Briercrest Avenue with some hardware as they defeated Millikan 3-0 in the Battle of the Blueprint to reclaim the Hamilton Trophy for the first time since 2019.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Lakewood senior Tiwan Jones said. “We just had to come out here with effort and enthusiasm to just play football.”
After Millikan opened the game with a methodical 64-yard, 16-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes, the Rams went for it on fourth and seven and weren’t able to convert as Lakewood offense headed onto the field.
Lakewood responded with their own drive that went into the second quarter and after not being able to convert on a third down at Millikan’s 17-yard-line, Jake Vega drilled a 34-yard field goal to give the Lancers a 3-0 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.
The second field goal that impacted the game came in the third quarter after the Rams forced a three-and-out and Millikan’s offense started to move the down field.
Leaning on their run game, the Rams marched right down the field with Ryan Carter and Samson Khan pushing their way into Lancers territory.
After Jonah Tuaniga connected with Landon Ross and Diamond Graham – the Rams drive stalled and they lined up for a field goal at Lakewood’s five-yard-line. With a great jump, Tiwan Jones flew in from the right side and blocked the kick. However, the ball went straight into the hands of senior Jude Nelson who caught the missed field goal, turned up field and scored as the line judge ran in to signal touchdown.
However, with Millikan’s special teams lining up for the extra point – Lakewood coach Mario Morales called for the attention of the referees – pleading his case that the kick passed the line of scrimmage and the touchdown should not have been rewarded and it should be a turnover on downs.
After a 16-minute delay that featured multiple officials meetings and chats with Millikan coach Romeo Pellum and Morales that raised the ire of both sidelines – the refs awarded Lakewood the ball at their own two-yard line heading the other way.
“They said that the ball passed the line of scrimmage,” Pellum said about what the officials told him was the reason they made their call and awarded Lakewood the ball. “(They said) in high school you can’t advance a punt or a PAT. It’s always something with the officials. It’s a constant thing, but man we got to be better than the refs. We have to be better, I have to be better, they’re going to call what they call – what they see. I may not agree with it but they’re going to call what they call.”
“They said it was going to be a touchdown or my ball at the one yard line,” Pellum added about what the officials originally told him. “And then I don’t know what changed – I can’t answer that.”
“You can’t do that,” Morales said was what he told the officials about the ball not being able to be advanced if it passes the line of scrimmage. “So that was my argument, and eventually, you know, they figured it out, and they got it right. And I’m glad they did it, because it was the right call.”
After the delay, Lakewood had to rely on the running game led by Jordan Montgomery who had a game-high 162 yards. The Lancers weren’t able to add to their lead as the offense dealt with senior Kade Casillas wasn’t at 100 percent after injuring his hamstring in the first quarter.
“We thought we could run the ball and play great defense and we’ve had a chance, you know?,” Morales added. “I didn’t realize it’ll be a 3-0 game, and we have to hold on there, but, you know, for us to have the ability to run the ball was big, to get first downs, to get the clock rolling, those things are so big for us offensively.”
Millikan didn’t stop fighting to claw back into the game, but couldn’t convert on a fourth down with three minutes left in the game. Freshman Jonah Tuaniga was 13-22 with 258 yards passing.
With the win, Lakewood also won both the Hamilton Trophy and the Milk Bucket in the same year since 2014. It also gives the Lancers a chance to be Co-Moore League champions when they wrap up the Moore League season on Thursday, Oct. 30. Millikan will wrap up the regular season when they head to Compton next Friday.
