The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
For the first two years of flag football in the Moore League, one team has stood alone at the top of the standings. But after Millikan’s season finale on Monday afternoon, they’ll need to make some room at the top.
Millikan closed out its regular season with a 48-0 win over Cabrillo on Monday, capping the program’s best year since the sport began. The victory secured the Rams their first-ever Moore League championship, a title they now share with Long Beach Poly after defeating the Jackrabbits for the first time in their second matchup this season.
“You could write a book about all the stuff we’ve been through the last few years,” said Millikan coach Romeo Pellum after the game. “It’s crazy. We’re at the top now, and we just have to stay here and continue to build. This is just one. We’re Moore League champs, we gotta split it, but we’re there.”
The Rams also celebrated their three seniors for senior night, who have been the cornerstone of the program over the last three years. All three found the end zone in the win, with Kayla Cisneros and Kate Martin each scoring once while fellow senior Nikki Cheshire caught a pair of touchdowns.
“We’ve worked really hard for this every year, and to finally get it in my senior year has just made it all pay off,” Cheshire said of the championship. “The chemistry on this team is amazing and I love this team, so to go out there on senior night and have this type of performance is amazing.”
“That’s what it’s about, it was their day,” added Pellum of his seniors. “They always score anyways but today was really about them and we wanted to make sure they were all over the field for their last Moore League game.”
The three seniors were fed by junior quarterback Holly Ibarra, who threw all six of Millikan’s passing touchdowns against Cabrillo. Ibarra tossed scoring passes on four of the Rams’ first five drives and led Millikan to a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Ibarra connected with Cheshire on a pair of deep passes for Millikan’s first two scores in the opening quarter. The junior then found freshman Charlie Enriquez for a touchdown, before throwing a short touchdown pass to Cisneros before intermission.
Martin got into the endzone in the third quarter on a deep pass from Ibarra, before a rushing touchdown two drives later by sophomore Sophia Romo-Santana. Ibarra found her final touchdown by taking a handoff in motion before tossing a short pass to Thai Martin in the endzone to conclude the scoring.
Millikan finished the regular season with a program-best 14-5 record (6-1 in the Moore League) and will now look ahead to the CIF-SS playoffs. Last year, the Rams were seeded in Division 3, where they earned their first playoff win in program history against Canyon Springs.
The Rams are rolling into the playoffs hot, having won their last four games by wide margins. They’re averaging nearly 35 points per game and haven’t allowed a single point since their loss to Compton.
“We just have to compete at practice (until the playoffs start next Tuesday), so we’ll bring some younger girls up to have a full practice against each other. We’ll get back to work and be ready for Tuesday,” Pellum said.
CIF-SS flag football playoff brackets in six divisions will be released on Friday.
