The562’s Poly and 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 Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Some Friday nights are about more than football.
Lakewood’s win over Wilson this week was one of those nights. Yes, the football game was pivotal for the Moore League playoff race, but it also demonstrated the power of football and community. After a thrilling 21-14 victory, Lakewood coach Mario Morales dedicated his team’s win to the Wadley family after the sudden and tragic passing of their son and brother Jared Wadley earlier this week.
“You played for something bigger than the game tonight,” Morales told his team after the game before handing longtime Lakewood athletic director Mike Wadley the game ball. As the team embraced Mike and his son Adam, the girls’ volleyball coach at Lakewood, tears flowed freely among players and coaches.
“Obviously it’s been a tough week for us and more so for the Wadley family, but we just really wanted to win this for them,” said Morales. “It was special to give them the game ball. Our kids really love that family and they showed that tonight.”
The Lancers had the ball first and executed a smooth, power-running drive, the type they’ve been trying–and often struggling–to put together all season. Sophomore Jacob Carey toted the rock, as did Jordan Montgomery and Thales Nguyen, who formed a three-headed rushing attack. Along with three completions by QB Aidan Kautsky, the Lancers had a nine-play, four and a half minute touchdown drive to open the game capped by a 13-yard touchdown run from Montgomery.
Lakewood really settled into their power rushing attack, as they’ve forged an identity as a run-first offense in recent weeks.
“For a while there we weren’t sure of our offensive identity,” said Morales. “We’ve gotten to the point where we understand that we are a running team and that’s what we’re going to have to do.”
Carey (19 carries for 73 yards and a score), Nguyen (two carries for 42 yards and a score), and Montgomery (three carries for 20 yards and a score) powered the way for Lakewood behind a stellar blocking effort from their offensive line.
Wilson would answer however as they tied the game up late in the first half, with QB Logan Trafas powering his way into the end zone. In the third quarter, the Bruins drove into Lakewood territory but turned it over on downs, setting up another run-filled Lancers drive that ended in a 35-yard touchdown run by Nguyen to make it 14-7 Lancers. The Bruins would tie it up the very next drive on another touchdown run by Trafas however following some big gains from running back Jermel Grigsby (16 carries for 81 yards).
The teams traded defensive stands before the Lancers went on top 21-14 on a touchdown run by Carey. The Lancers’ defense then came up with several big plays to hold Wilson scoreless the rest of the game, as a disjointed Bruins offense struggled to find its footing. Lakewood got sacks from Gregory Gibson, whose strip sack and fumble recovery set up Carey’s TD, as well as Christian May and senior Garon Harden.
Harden was one of the defensive linemen who excelled in a tweaked Lakewood defensive formation, which saw them put five down linemen in front of Grigsby to contain him. The Bruins never punished Lakewood by consistently throwing it over the top, and Grigsby’s hard running was ultimately bottled up enough to keep the Bruins out of the end zone more often than not.
“We want to get to the playoffs and we needed this win,” said Harden, who also had three tackles for a loss. “We know their running back is really fast and we needed to make sure he didn’t have any space tonight.”
Harden said the team was inspired to get a win for the Wadley family.
“He means absolutely everything to this program,” said Harden. “He does a lot of things that go unappreciated and we’re very glad to have him in this program and at our school, we love them.”
Carey echoed his teammate’s statement.
“He’s one of the hearts of the program, he’s everybody’s favorite so we wanted to get the win for them for sure,” he said.
Lakewood (3-6, 1-2) will face Jordan next week before closing the season with a bye; Wilson (2-7, 1-2) will have a bye this week before facing Millikan to finish the year.
