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 Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
There was another bump in the road for the Cabrillo football team on Thursday night, as the Jaguars returned to action on a short week following a loss at Big Bear on Saturday. Cabrillo had Banning lined up next in its tough non-league slate to open the season but couldn’t overcome the Pilots in a 35-0 loss in its home opener.
“We have to learn from these types of losses because teams like that are going to help a lot when we get into the league schedule,” said Cabrillo coach Malcolm Manuel. “We wanted it to be that way. We have a lot of tough opponents and Banning is one of them—but the goal for us is to be ready to make a push at the end of September and early October.”
Despite the score, there were a couple of positives to take away for the Jaguars, including a big takeaway early in the first quarter. Amid Banning’s first drive, junior Armon Lumpkin stepped in front of a pass on the third play of the game for an early interception. Cabrillo followed with its longest drive of the game, going nine plays before coming up empty-handed.
“We started the game pretty good—those first couple of series were really good for us. [Lumpkin] is playing both ways and we’re asking a lot of him, so for him to make that play says a lot about him. There were definitely some positives there, but then we come back and drop the ball and draw flags—those are momentum killers,” Manuel said.
The Pilots found their rhythm from there, as senior quarterback Noa Tuvalu shook off the interception and went on to finish 17-for-24 for 262 yards with two touchdowns and the one pick. Tuvalu’s top target, Pharrell Daniels, finished with 10 catches for 129 yards and a touchdown, while the running back duo of Isaac Flores and Alonzo Ruiz combined for 123 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.
Banning’s first score came after a punt on Cabrillo’s opening drive, as the Pilots began feeding Flores and Ruiz on the ground. That opened up the passing game for Tuvalu, who connected with Daniels and Alex Joya on the drive before Flores punched in a two-yard touchdown for the game’s first score with two minutes left in the first quarter.
The Pilots were able to tack on another touchdown quickly before the end of the second quarter, as Tuvalu found junior Steve Flores for a 55-yard touchdown strike on a one-play drive. Banning added one more score before halftime after forcing a turnover on downs, as Ruiz capped off a six-play drive with a six-yard rushing touchdown to give the Pilots a 21-0 lead.
Banning forced a punt on Cabrillo’s opening drive of the second half before scoring on a three-minute drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown connection between Tuvalu and Daniels. The Pilots forced another punt before scoring their final touchdown of the game to start the fourth quarter on a 15-yard strike from Tuvalu to Roger Garcia.
For Cabrillo, senior quarterback Fernando Leanos battled an injured ankle throughout the game and finished 10-for-22 for 76 passing yards. Receivers Danny Lopez and William Colbert each finished with three catches for 25 yards, while the Jaguars’ run game was held to just under 10 yards.
The Jaguars will have a longer week to prepare for Maywood Center for Enriched Studies on the road before finishing out their non-league schedule with Marina at home and former leaguemate Jordan on the road. Cabrillo will open its first season in the Hub City League on Oct. 9 at home against Centennial.
“We just need to keep showing up every day and improving,” Manuel said of the loss. “We need to improve every day and continue learning the playbook. A lot of our guys are fairly new to football, so they just need to keep showing up and learning. They’re getting the scheme down week after week, but it’s just a matter of staying consistent each week with the same message.”
