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.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
Lakewood and Millikan looked like two prize fighters trading haymakers on Friday night at John Ford Stadium. Instead of a title belt, the Lancers and Rams were once again playing for custody of the Hamilton Trophy, and both teams had a puncher’s chance into the late rounds.
The legs were wobbly on both sidelines, with each team suffering through a litany of miscues and turnovers. But both teams also showed plenty of resolve in getting off the mat, delivering a flurry of counterpunches throughout a heart-stopping fourth quarter.
When the final bell sounded, Millikan was the last team standing, emerging with a 32-28 victory thanks to a game-winning TD pass from Jonah Tuaniga to Ryan Carter in the final minute, giving the Rams their first victory of the 2026 season.
Usually a head coach is all smiles after his team’s first win, but head coach Romeo Pellum was not pleased with his team’s execution on Friday night, and expects to see better from his team going forward.
“We’ve got to play better all around,” said Pellum. “We’ve got to take care of the football. We gave the ball away two times. When we’re in the red area, we’ve got to score. I’ve got to do a better job with time and point management … But as a program, as a team, we’ve gotta play better. We have to play better if we want to go where we say we want to go.”
Friday’s game was the Moore League opener for Millikan, but in many ways it felt like a season-opener for the Rams. They’ve been without a number of key players throughout the non-league schedule, and have had precious few game reps as a complete squad.
The Rams were eager to welcome back junior running back Ryan Carter for this game after a month away, and he was a key to victory. He ran the ball 22 times for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also caught a pair of passes for 36 yards and the game-winning score.
“It felt great. We could have done better, always, but it still feels good to come out with our first W,” said Carter. “I just wanted to prove myself. They were talking crazy saying I was injured and I wasn’t gonna do as much. So I had to come back, put in that work and prove them wrong.”
Millikan also got a productive game from Tuaniga, who has missed plenty of time at the QB position this year. He was 13/20 for 225 yards and 3 TDs through the air, connecting with three different receivers for scores. He also didn’t throw any interceptions, though he did lose a fumble on a sack late in the first half.
Lakewood’s Aidan Kautsky played probably his best game of the season at quarterback, finishing 18/25 for 258 yards and 3 TDs. He threw a pair of first-half interceptions, but protected the ball much better in the second half, when he was nearly perfect. Over the last 24 minutes of action, Kautsky was 11/12 passing for 159 yards and 2 TDs, nearly leading his Lancers to victory.
On the opening drive of the night, Kautsky led a 12-play touchdown drive for the Lancers, connecting with tight end Joseph Macias (6 catches, 82 yards) for an 18-yard score to make it 7-0 Lakewood.
Millikan responded with the next three scores, first on a deep ball from Tuaniga to Jay Williams (4 catches, 87 yards) for a 59-yard scoring strike on 3rd & 8. The next Rams possession was just a single play, a 42-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Tuaniga to Aden Taufa to make it 13-7 Millikan.
Taufa is another player who missed time this season, but he had a huge impact in the first half. The junior not only had his TD grab on offense, he also recorded an interception and a fumble recovery on defense.
The Rams increased their lead to 19-7 on a tremendous individual effort from Carter on a gutsy play call. After facing a 2nd & 29 at their own 31, Millikan handed it to Carter on three successive plays, getting runs of 12, 8, then 49 yards for a touchdown. That last carry came on a 4th & 9 situation, and Carter broke multiple tackles before plowing his way over the goal line.
Millikan maintained that 19-7 advantage at halftime, though both teams had golden scoring opportunities late in the half. They had 1st & Goal at the Lakewood 3-yard-line, but fumbled on a run play, with Lakewood’s Larry “LA” Morris falling on the fumble at the one. The ensuing drive got the Rams back into the red zone, but Tuaniga was sacked and stripped by Marshawn Springer, and Mason Mazas recovered it and rumbled all the way to the Millikan 25 with just 23 seconds left in the first half.
But that Lakewood drive didn’t result in points as Millikan’s Toloai Toloai dropped into coverage from his spot on the defensive line and picked off Kautsky, returning it back to Lakewood territory just before intermission.
In the third quarter, Millikan appeared poised to extend its lead as they lined up for a 30-yard field goal try on 4th & 7. However, an offsides penalty coaxed the Rams into putting their offense back on the field, and an incompletion by Tuaniga led to a turnover on downs–a decision that Pellum said he regrets.
“I’m kicking myself for that. We’ve got to take the points,” said Pellum of his decision to go for it on 4th & 2 at the Lakewood 8. “We had the ball for half the quarter, then they took the other half of the quarter. It was one possession each, and we’ve got to get off the field. But we’ve also got to get points when we’re in the red zone.”
Lakewood’s offense then went on a game-changing drive, going 92 yards in 13 plays to get themselves right back in the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jordan Montgomery took the handoff and raced four yards to the nearside pylon, cutting Lakewood’s deficit to 19-14.
After the Lancers defense forced a 3-and-out, Millikan’s punt was a rugby-style kick that ended up as a low line drive right into the line of scrimmage. Lakewood was able to recover at the Millikan 30, giving them terrific field position for the go-ahead score. Kautsky delivered consecutive passes to Steve Orozco, giving Lakewood a 21-19 lead with just over 10 minutes left.
Millikan responded with a scoring drive of its own, capped off by a 5-yard TD run from Carter to make it 25-21 Rams with under six minutes to play.
Back-and-forth they went as Lakewood put together another go-ahead drive, executing a beautiful play call out of a timeout. Facing 3rd & 8 at the Millikan 33, Kautsky and Jayden Moore (6 catches, 108 yards) executed a beautiful pump-and-go route along the home sideline, getting Moore wide open for the score and a 28-25 lead with 2:09 to go.
“I hate to say it, but I felt we scored too early there,” said Lakewood head coach Mario Morales of Lakewood’s final score. “With two minutes to go, we thought we could get them on a hitch and go, and we did. But I thought, shoot, we should have waited a little bit. So that's on me. But at the end of the day, I'm proud of how they played.”
That set the stage for Millikan’s decisive two-minute drill, which got the help of a key no-call by the officiating crew. On 2nd down at the Lakewood 46, Tuaniga was under pressure and nearly sacked, but he got a pass away in the direction of one of his offensive linemen. Lakewood’s sideline was screaming for an intentional grounding call, but the flag never came.
Two plays later, Tuaniga rolled to his right, and signaled to Carter mid-play to break off his out route and turn up field. He then fired a bullet into a tight window over a defender and into Carter’s hands in the end zone, giving the Rams a 32-28 lead with just over 35 seconds left.
“We practice stuff like this, situational drills and stuff like that, so we’re really used to it,” said Carter. “Practice is really harder in the games, and I just felt like it wasn't as hard as it looked.”
Lakewood’s offense was unable to come up with a miracle on the final possession, with Millikan collecting one final takeaway on a forced fumble, securing the win and the Hamilton Trophy.
Millikan (1-6, 1-0) will be back home next week to take on Jordan, while Lakewood (2-6, 0-2) travels to play Wilson next Friday night.
