Column: La Mirada, Narbonne among public schools to topple parochial powers
Public schools don’t usually fare very well against private schools in prep football, so when there’s the occasional triumph, it’s worthy of a celebration.
There were three big ones on Friday night on the opening weekend of the season. La Mirada, overwhelmed in losses last season to Bellflower St. John Bosco, 76-8, and Santa Ana Mater Dei, 42-7, earned a 21-14 win over another Trinity League power, Orange Lutheran. Mission Viejo took down Santa Margarita, 48-21. And Harbor City Narbonne knocked off Gardena Serra, 34-12.
“It’s simple,” La Mirada Coach Mike Moschetti said. “These kids want to play in big games, and we really believe for something great to happen, you have to challenge yourself and play great teams. We’ve taken a lot of abuse, and our kids have been beaten up. You learn more about yourself getting beat than playing teams and beating them by 50.”
The Matadores were physical on offense and defense. R.J. Lan, a baseball standout headed to Texas Christian, starred as a running back and defensive back. Elijah Hicks, a cornerback, helped shut down Orange Lutheran standout receivers Brandon McKinley and Austin Liles and had a couple of big punt returns. And Colorado-bound linebacker Chase Newman was a physical presence.
St. John Bosco wins: Re-al Mitchell, a 16-year-old junior, made quite a debut as St. John Bosco’s starting quarterback on Saturday in Cincinnati. He ran 98 yards for a touchdown on the Braves’ second play from scrimmage en route to a 34-0 victory over Cincinnati St. Xavier.
He also had touchdown passes of 69 and 53 yards to Berkeley Holman. Mitchell is one of the fastest quarterbacks in California.
St. John Bosco showed off a dominant defensive line that featured Kyle Murray, Sal Spina and Jacob Callier.
They’re fast: Elijah Blades, a Pasadena Muir defensive back, had a 99-yard kickoff return and 80-yard interception return in a 49-12 win over Compton.
Tyler Asemota, a receiver at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame who was a member of the Knights’ state runner-up 400-meter relay team, returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in a 35-21 win over Santa Maria St. Joseph.
Near perfect: Sophomore quarterback J.T. Daniels of Santa Ana Mater Dei completed 19 of 22 passes for 373 yards and six touchdowns in a 63-14 win over La Puente Bishop Amat.
Junior quarterback Cameron Rising of Newbury Park passed for 358 yards and five touchdowns in a 65-44 win over Oxnard Pacifica. He has attempted 196 consecutive passes without an interception.
Running back Broc Mortensen of Ventura scored six touchdowns and rushed for 264 yards in a 58-14 win over Thousand Oaks.
He’s got game: Who knew that quarterback Brevin White of West Hills Chaminade could run? Certainly not Eagles Coach Ed Croson, who watched in stunned silence as White broke off an 83-yard touchdown run against Westlake Village Oaks Christian.
“I didn’t know he was that fast,” Croson said. “We’ll have to add a whole lot of plays in the next week.”
Twitter: @latsondheimer
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