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 Millikan Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
Someone will be picking up their first win of the 2026 season when Millikan (0-2) and Downey (0-2) square off at Allen Layne Stadium on Friday night, and that’s unusual territory for these two programs.
It’s the first time in five years that Millikan has dropped its first two games of the season, and Downey hasn’t started 0-2 since 2019. Both teams have had a tough schedule so far, and that will continue for the remainder of their nonleague slates.
Millikan is coming off a 28-7 loss at Loyola last Friday night, and will be playing a road game at Downey for the second season in a row. The Rams visited on Sept. 5, 2025 and suffered a 55-7 loss against the Vikings.
That was the first career start for freshman quarterback Jonah Tuaninga, who has gotten off to a slow start in his sophomore campaign. His development as a passer will be key for Millikan’s outlook this season, as they look to complement a solid running game behind junior Ryan Carter and an improved (and improving) offensive line.
Fans will surely remember the 2024 meeting between these schools, when Downey escaped Millikan with a thrilling 69-68 victory, going into the record books as one of the highest-scoring games in state history.
This will be Downey’s second game against a Long Beach team after a 24-7 season-opening loss against Long Beach Poly. They also lost 33-23 against Capistrano Valley last week, which is actually the next team on Millikan’s schedule.
The Vikings are also starting a sophomore quarterback in Chase Watkins, who has a talented weapon at receiver in senior Damani Porras. Junior running back Matt Acosta is the workhorse in the backfield and has averaged 5.6 yards per carry this season.
Both Millikan head coach Romeo Pellum and Downey head coach Jack Williams have scheduled tough games for their programs this season, making this meeting between the Rams and Vikings especially important. One of the teams will earn a much-needed win on Friday night, while the other will fall to 0-3 and be in jeopardy of going winless over their non-league schedule.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Downey High.
