The562’s football coverage for the 2026-27 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.
After a lopsided 48-3 loss to Corona del Mar, Lakewood coach Mario Morales’ postgame message to his team was simple: “We will get better.”
With a number of new faces making their first starts across the field for Lakewood, the Sea Kings quickly flexed their experience. They drove 80 yards on their opening possession, led by Luca Dinapoli, who capped the drive by connecting with JJ Haley for a 25-yard touchdown to give Corona del Mar an 8-0 lead four minutes into the game.
On the ensuing drive, the Lancers (0-1) looked to get Thales Nguyen going in the backfield, but the Sea Kings (1-0) bottled him up. Looking to get things going downfield, senior Aidan Kautsky’s first pass of the game was intercepted by Zack Cox, who jumped the passing lane and returned it into Lakewood territory.
Dinapoli wasted no time getting Corona del Mar back into the end zone, finding Tucker Murray for a 15-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 14-0 with 6:42 remaining in the first quarter.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Morales said of the opener being something to grow from. “It’s a learning moment for us and not just the players, but the coaches too. Going up against what they do, offensively and defensively, and they’re very well-coached. They’re fundamentally sound, and that’s good for us to get better, right? That’s a measuring gauge for us to see where we’re at and where we have to get to.”
The Lancers’ first-quarter struggles continued on their next drive. They went three-and-out before a botched snap forced Jake Vega to kick the ball out of the end zone for a safety, giving Corona del Mar a 16-0 lead.
Dinapoli continued to attack through the air, finding Haley for their second touchdown connection of the night, this time from 34 yards out, to give the Sea Kings a 23-0 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter. Corona del Mar pushed the lead to 26-0 by the end of the quarter to take command of the game.
The Lancers scored their lone points on their first drive of the second quarter. Lakewood moved downfield with help from a couple of penalties before Vega drilled a 40-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 26-3 with 6:06 left in the half.
Lakewood’s defense started to settle in during the period as Terrish Weston Jr. intercepted John David Annett while the Sea Kings were driving toward the red zone. However, the Lancers were dealt some bad news when Weston suffered an apparent rib injury that could impact his availability moving forward, according to Morales.
“Tonight was a big night for him, because we’re expecting a big year out of him,” Morales said. “So we’ve got to wait to see what happened to him, but we’re hoping everything’s okay with him.”
Neither team scored after the turnover, sending Corona del Mar into halftime with a 26-3 lead.
Lakewood’s opening drive of the second half stalled when the Sea Kings came up with another interception. Three plays later, Annett found Nolan Scott for a 44-yard touchdown to push the lead to 32-3.
Corona del Mar quarterbacks Dinapoli and Annett combined to pass for 283 yards and five touchdowns. Haley and Murray each caught two touchdown passes, while Scott added another for the Sea Kings.
Lakewood will play at Paramount next week, while Corona del Mar will host Santa Barbara.
“We’re going to be all right,” Morales said. “We’re pretty young. We made a lot of young mistakes tonight, but we’ll get better.”
