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Football Wilson

PREVIEW: Wilson vs. Sunny Hills, Football

The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.

It’s been a dominant start to the season for the Wilson football team, and the Bruins are looking to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2021. They’ll put their undefeated record on the line in their home opener Friday night in a battle of unbeatens against Sunny Hills at 7 pm.

It was a lopsided 34-7 win when the pair met this time last year, headlined by quarterback Mack Cooper’s three-touchdown performance. The senior will be without receiver Max Barbee this time around, who had two of those touchdowns against Sunny Hills.

Cooper has since found a couple of new favorite targets and showed it in another impressive performance just a week ago. The Prairie View A&M commit threw for 224 passing yards and three touchdowns in Wilson’s 37-14 win over Marina

Senior Thomas Jones has emerged as a big target in Wilson’s offense, and he had two scores last week including a 90-yard catch and run for a touchdown. Jones also nailed a field goal as Wilson’s kicker while tight end Jagger Kohagura caught a touchdown pass.

The Bruins run game is led by Kori Scott, who had 110 yards and two touchdowns in Wilson’s opener against Portola. Sophomore Jemel Grigsby will also be involved at running back and on defense where we had a 93-yard pick-six last week against Marina.

Wilson has a 72-14 point differential through two weeks and will be tested against a Sunny Hills team that has scored 63 points in its first two games. The Lancers picked up wins over Westminster and California, outscoring them a combined 63-34.

Eli Aquino
Eli Aquino began working with The562 as part of its inaugural intern class in 2021 and continued throughout high school as a freelancer. He joined The562’s staff in 2024 and was later promoted to Editorial Associate & Staff Writer. He is currently entering his second year at Long Beach State.