Schedule gets no easier for 0-2 La Mirada

La Mirada High is 0-2 so far this season, and with Servite on this week’s schedule, is staring at the possibility of an 0-3 start.
“This isn’t good enough,” Matadores coach Mike Moschetti said Saturday morning, just hours after his team was topped by La Habra 35-26 at home. “We take pride in this program, and being 0-2, our backs are against the wall. But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve gotta man up, we’ve gotta fight and work harder.”
La Mirada moved inside La Habra’s 10 on each of its first two drives, but settled for Austin Watkins field goals both times. The Highlanders scored TDs on each of their first two drives for a 14-6 lead, and eventually built their lead to 28-6 by halftime.
“Early on, we had to settle for field goals,” said Moschetti, “and that hurt.”
The Matadores got back into the game with two turnovers and an onside kick in the second half, eventually pulling within two points in the fourth quarter. The early deficit, however, was simply too much to overcome. Senior Adam Carrasco ran for 89 yards and three touchdowns Friday, and senior Dallis Shipp caught 12 passes for 131 yards. Junior quarterback Kevin Dillman threw for 210 yards.
“You can’t be down 28-6 to a team like La Habra and expect to win,” Moschetti said.
On Friday, La Mirada will welcome a Servite squad that just upset Long Beach Poly, the top-ranked team in the PAC-5 Division. The Matadores fell in last week’s Southeast Division poll from No. 2 to No. 4, and from No. 1 to No. 3 in the Daily News poll.
“We’ve put ourselves in this situation,” Moschetti said. “Now we’ve gotta find a way to get out of this mess we’re in.”

Waste not, want not
La Serna football coach Margarito Beltran couldn’t help but miss the points his team squandered in Friday’s 24-20 nonleague loss to Los Osos.
The Lancers turned the ball over at the 1-yard line and had a touchdown called back because of a penalty in the loss, which dropped their record to 1-1. La Serna managed a field goal after the touchdown was called back, but the four points it let get away were the difference in the game.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” La Serna coach Margarito Beltran said Saturday. “You can’t leave points on the field.”
The Lancers turned the ball over twice, and Los Osos scored the winning touchdown on fourth down with under a minute to play.
La Serna opened the week ranked No. 1 in the WDN Top 10 and No. 2 in the Southeast Division. It will host Schurr on Friday at Cal High.

Off and running
Whittier improved to 2-0 with Friday’s 31-12 victory over Azusa, setting up a matchup of unbeaten teams between the Cardinals and Whittier Christian next week.
Whittier forced several several turnovers, including a fumble recovery and interception from Johnny Godinez and a muffed punt recovery from Anthony Figueroa for the second week in a row. Jerry Pantoja, Andres Garcia and Hector Zamaya all recorded takeaways as well, and Matthew Acosta kept a drive alive with a fourth-down reception.
“The kids played hard,” said second-year coach Visko Ancich, “but obviously it’s still early and we still have a lot of corrections to make.”
Whittier Christian is also 2-0 after its 32-17 victory over Cantwell-Sacred Heart on Friday. Last year, the Cardinals earned a 34-19 victory.
Friday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Whittier College.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email