The spoils of victory
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Lakewood, which won the ‘Milk Bucket Game’ with a 40-3 victory over Mayfair on Sept. 14, took similar command of the ‘Hamiliton Bowl’ on Friday, winning the annual meeting with rival Long Beach Millikan, 40-17, by dominating the fourth quarter.
The Lancers (5-3, 3-1) put a fine finish on what had been a see-saw game battle with their identical twin school. Millikan, located just a tad over three miles from Lakewood, is built with look-alike construction and appearance.
As a result of the victory, Lakewood retained possession of a hefty three-tiered perpetual memorial trophy named after Donice Hamilton, a former teacher at both schools. Etched on plaques on each side of the trophy are the scores of each game -- except for 2006, which, for some reason never got inscripted -- between the schools since 1957, when Millikan defeated Lakewood, 33-13.
More recently, the Lancers’ fortune has changed, and, including the latest victory over the Rams (5-2, 2-2), Lakewood has won six consecutive meetings. The Lancers lead the series, 27-22-1.
‘This is as big as any rivalry they have,’ said Jack McCullough, an assistant coach with the Lakewood freshman team. ‘We won the milk bucket earlier in the year, but this game is way bigger.’
The players agreed.
‘We just wanted that trophy,’ said junior running back Alex Fletcher, who scored three of his four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead the late outburst. ‘We didn’t want to let them have it. We’d had it for five years. We just didn’t want them to take it.’
After the game, Lakewood senior nose guard Simon Sauni and junior linebacker Ryan Walker held the Hamilton trophy aloft near midfield. The coveted hardware had been out and either on or near the field all week.
‘All week, we brought it out to practice,’ Lakewood sophomore quarterback Jesse Scroggins said. ‘We said, ‘We’re playing for this, we’re playing for this trophy.’’
- Lauren Peterson