La Serna hopes time has come for title

The keys for the Lancers (10-3) have been senior captains OJ Medina, Craig Jones, John McFarland and Faris Nesheiwat who in addition to giving a La Serna a tactical advantage with their on-field talents, also provided the necessary leadership to succeed.
All four played key roles, with Medina and Jones being the only two returning starters from last season's team that advanced to the division semifinals.
"I think we learned a lot from last year's seniors of what it takes to be a championship team," Medina said. "We took it a step further (this season). To make it to the finals this year, it was them (last year's seniors), ultimately, who got us here. We learned
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from from them and put in that extra work to help us get to the finals.
"With Craig, from the defensive standpoint, and me (on offense), it helped the young guys see us leading by example. We set the bar to a certain level. The young guys fed off that and played the competition to that kind of level."
Medina excelled on the field as well, ranking among the area's rushing leaders with 1,561 yards and 20 touchdowns, including 151 yards and two scores in last week's 28-3 victory over Muir in the semifinals.
Jones, one of the top returning linebackers in the area, provided stability on defense, leading the unit with 82 tackles. McFarland and Faris Nesheiwat, who have 44 and 40 tackles, respectively, provided that leadership on the defensive line. Nesheiwat, who had a key fumble return for a touchdown in a 21-20 victory over Bonita, also had six sacks.
"This year, we had only two starters back," Jones said. "The young guys had to pick up the slack and they've done an amazing job. They really stepped up. It's been a great year."
But there were bumps in the road.
After winning its first three games by an average of nearly 20 points, La Serna looked lost in a 31-0 setback to La Mirada in Week 4. Then after regrouping, the Lancers lost 23-8 to eventual Del Rio League champ Santa Fe before ending the regular season with a 14-13 loss to archrival California.
But the Lancers, like most good teams, rebounded, getting three solid victories in the playoffs, over Mayfair (47-34), Los Altos (42-38) and Muir.
"I feel having that hurt of losing in our guts made us understand what it felt like and we didn't want to experience it anymore," said Medina, who has rushed for 414 yards and six touchdowns during the playoffs. "I would (trade) losses to Santa Fe and Cal High any day to be here in the finals."
Now, the Lancers are facing their toughest challenge.
West Covina, which rallied for a 37-33 victory to beat Bonita in the title game last season, has been dominant this season, winning 12 of 13 games with the only loss coming to Pac-5 power Loyola (35-7).
The Bulldogs, seeking their third division title since 2004, have scored 40 or more points in six of their past seven games, including 63 in a 29-point win over La Mirada in last week's semifinals.
The leader for the Bulldogs has been senior running back Chris Solomon, who rushed for 290 yards and five touchdowns against La Mirada.
But La Serna believes it's ready for the challenge of not only facing West Covina, but also playing in a championship game.
"We, as a school, haven't been here in 44 years," Nesheiwat said. "It's a really big deal for us.
"Last year we came close, losing to Bonita. We have some players here who came so close and want to finish it off."