La Mirada Shuts Down Western for 14-0 Victory

By the time Western High School Coach Jim Howell saw the ominous pattern emerging, it was too late for him to do anything about it.

La Mirada held Western to 156 yards of total offense en route to a 14-0 victory in the Division VI quarterfinals at La Mirada.

The defeat was Western’s fourth of the season, all of them coming on nonschool days.

“Every time we came out for a game this year when there wasn’t school that day, we came out flat as hell,” Howell said. “This was one of those days.”

La Mirada came into the game without two-way starter Joe Fernandez--a player La Mirada Coach John Mele called “25 %” of his team’s offense and defense. Fernandez suffered a sprained back muscle in an auto accident Monday.

But the remaining 75% was enough to ground Western. Quarterback Gilbert Brito spent most of the evening scrambling for cover for three downs, then punting. Brito punted nine times on the evening.

On offense, La Mirada showcased its aerial attack in the first half. Quarterback Chad Drown connected with flanker Eric De La Cruz five times for 96 yards, exploiting the tight man-to-man coverage of Western cornerback Dariel Whipple.

On La Mirada’s first drive of the second quarter, Drown threaded a pass into heavy traffic to De La Cruz, who streaked past Whipple into the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown play.

In the second half, La Mirada shifted gears and grinded it out on the ground, with halfbacks Rob Hays (57 yards in 17 carries) and Kendall Alexander (46 yards in nine carries) doing the heavy work.

La Mirada got an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter after Alexander had gained 31 tough yards to the Western two. Hays followed Alexander’s lead block and busted in from there for the game’s final score.

La Mirada (9-3) will play La Quinta in next week’s semifinals. Western finished the season with an 8-4 record.