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The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The Lakewood football team along with the rest of the Moore League enters uncharted territory the next couple of weeks.
Instead of preparing for a league game against a team they’ve battled for years, the Lancers (2-3) head to Orange County to take on Villa Park on Thursday. It’ll be another tough test for a Lakewood team that entered the season with new starters across multiple positions and with that, have had some mixed results after the first half of the season.
“Another big game for us,” Lakewood coach Mario Morales said. “They’re very talented, but that’s what we do. We want to play good talent and see where we are. We’re not there yet, but we’ve got to keep working with the right mindset and understand that whatever challenge is in front of us, we’ve got to do our best to battle and accept it. And we will.”
Last week against Torrance, turnovers never allowed the offense to get into a rhythm as the Tartars pulled away with their physical rushing attack.
Senior Aidan Kautsky will look to get some early confidence in the passing game to open some running room for seniors Thales Nguyen and Jordan Montgomery. That was the formula for the Lancers when they defeated Mayfair and they’ll need to shorten the game against a Villa Park team that has scored more than 50 points in every game so far and have beaten teams by an average of 51.5 points – which includes a 59-14 win over Wilson last week.
The Spartans (4-0) have played clean football through the first four weeks with no turnovers and sophomore Jacob Titchenal has orchestrated the offense efficiently. Titchenal has tossed 12 touchdowns with Ben Hannah being the top target with 13 receptions for 144 yards and four touchdowns.
In the running game, Coy Collins leads the team with 346 yards and five touchdowns.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
