The Long Beach Unified School District hosted its All-City Middle School girls’ volleyball championships at the end of October at Lakewood High, where the underdog took two of the three titles.
Division 1
Looking for a little payback, Keller did just that as they defeated Hoover, 45-20 to claim the Division 1 title. Lucas Pepek had five touchdowns as the Lobos got all their playmakers involved.
After a slight delay as they waited for enough players to arrive, the Highlanders went from the sidelines to the end zone as Major Gaines found Raeli Solia for to give Hoover a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
However, looking to get their offense going – the Lobos shifted Lucas Pepek to quarterback and it paid off as Pepek threw a touchdown to David Mancha on their opening drive to tie the game 7-7.
Mancha followed that with an interception and with some tricky – Jackson Fletcher threw a touchdown pass to Carlon Parrott as the Lobos took a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter. After forcing a turnover on downs, the Lobos offense went right back to work as Pepek scored his second touchdown of the game when he got loose for a rushing touchdown.
“It was just utilizing our athletes, the most athletic people,” Keller coach Daniel Lopez said. “We had an offensive linemen that threw a touchdown. You just want to put everyone in a position to really score.”
Hoover got their offense going as Gaines connected with King Harris four times -the fourth time being a touchdown to cut Keller’s lead to 20-13.
However, Pepe’s second touchdown put Keller up 27-13 as he found Parrott again. After getting a turnover on downs, the Lobos went right down the field and scored as Pepek found Parrott again for a long touchdown to go up 33-13.
Pepek did it all and even got on the board on the defensive side of the ball when he got a pick-six on the next drive to give the Lobos a 39-13 lead. After Pepek threw another touchdown to Milo Howell, Hoover’s Gaines found Harris for a touchdown to make it a 45-20 game.
Division 2
Looking to cap off an undefeated season, Stephens found themselves in a defensive battle as they took on Franklin.
After a defensive struggle early on, the Jackrabbits got their offensive going as they defeated Franklin 30-20 on Saturday at Lakewood High to cap their 9-0 undefeated season.
After three interceptions on the opening three drive by Ezra Pese, Jermaine Armstrong and Alijah King – Jeremiah Owen gave Stephens an early lead when he caught a pass from Dallas Trotter to give Stephens a 6-0 lead with 9:52 left in the second quarter.
After a defensive stop, Trotter kept the offense moving as he threw passes to King and Owen. Owen then scored his second touchdown on a long run to give the Jacktabbits a 12-0 lead with 3:20 left in the first half.
Franklin didn’t back down as Tyreek Daviega found Torein Bailey for a long touchdown as the Wildcats cut Stephens’ lead to 12-7 at halftime.
Bailey got Franklin’s defense going early in the third quarter when he got an interception to put the Wildcats’ offense on the field with a chance to take their first lead. Daviega did just that as he found Ethan Solis for a touchdown and Franklin took a 13-12 lead.
However, Owen once again showed what he can do as he scored on the next play to give Stephens a 18-13 lead.
“Jeremiah has been just a star since the beginning,” Stephens Co-coach Jose Magallan said. “He steps up when we need him.
He’s just the ultimate X factor. Once the ball iss in his hands, he could take it the 80 yards in a blink of an eye.”
After Elisandro Mendoza got an interception in the end zone, Owen scored his third touchdown of the game on a long run and showed his breakaway speed to put Stephens up 24-13 with 8:36 left in the third quarter.
The Jackrabbits came up with a defensive stop and Trotter scored to give Stephens a 30-13 lead with 4:38 left in the game.
Franklin kept battling as they drove down field and Daviega found Joshua Hernandez for a touchdown to cut Stephens’ lead to 30-20.
Division 3
In the opening game of the middle school co-ed flag football championships, Lindbergh and Lindsey were locked in a defensive battle that featured eight interceptions. However, it was Lindbergh that prevailed thanks to A’lani McFashion who threw the game-winning touchdown to Corday Randolph as the Eagles defeated the Falcons, 13-12.
“Perseverance and defense is where we’ve hung our hats,” Lindbergh coach Kenneth Zavala said. “We had to stop them late the last time we played them. Our defense has stepped up every game.”
McFashion put Lindbergh up 6-0 when she got loose and ran past defenders for a 20-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
“A’lani is no joke,” Zavala said. “She’s the truth. She threw a pick, and she gets down but she doesn’t let it stop her. The boys are confident in her and know she’s going to make that pass.”
Lindsey’s Hakeem Isacc was one player that Lindbergh knew they had to stop and he didn’t make it easy for Lindbergh. The eighth grader threw a long pass to Donald Sledge for a big gain and then got loose when he decided to keep it himself.
He then found Kristian Stewart for a touchdown as the Falcons cut the Eagles lead to 7-6. Daniel Smith was a problem defensively coming up with three interceptions, but a pick by his teammate Sledge gave Lindsey the opportunity they needed late in the third quarter.
Lindsey took advantage of the opportunity as Isacc threw a 5-yard touchdown to Tyrelle London to take a 12-6 lead.
Running out of time in the fourth, Lindbergh came up with a pick interception with time running down and gave McFashion a chance to drive down field for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
