By Loren Kopff
In a battle of double wing offenses, Norwalk’s football team showed why it is a serious threat to win the Suburban League. The Lancers rushed for 254 yards and needed only 26 plays to whitewash Cerritos 56-0 last Thursday night at Hanford Rants Stadium.
Norwalk (5-0 overall, 1-0 in league) remained the top ranked team in the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section’s Southeast Division for the fourth week in a row. The second half was played under a running clock as the Lancers built a 42-0 halftime lead.
Norwalk had the ball for less than two minutes in the first quarter but had a 21-0 lead as senior wingback Rashaad Penny caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jacob Carr and senior fullback Xavier Fuery scored on a 22-yard run within the first five plays. Later in the stanza, Carr returned a punt 53 yards for the third score of the night.
Penny would score twice on Norwalk’s first three plays in the second quarter, a 48-yard run 16 seconds in and a six-yard run almost three minutes later. Sophomore Chris Walker got into the action with 2:58 left in the half as he went in from 15 yards out. The last two scores of the game came on a Penny 28-yard run early in the third quarter and an eight-yard run from junior wingback Ryan McDowell shortly before the end of the third quarter.
Penny had 115 yards on six carries while Fuery added 64 yards on four rushes. The Lancers have now rushed for 1,710 yards with Penny leading the way with 641 yards on 53 touches. McDowell paced the defense, which posted its second straight shutout, with six and a half tackles. The Lancers, who are idle tonight, have allowed 31 points this season.
Cerritos senior running back LaMarr Crowder led the Dons (1-3, 0-1) with 65 yards on 17 carries. Cerritos will visit Artesia tonight in the third and final ABC Unified School District game.
In other area football action, Artesia fell to Mayfair 44-33 in its Suburban League opener last Friday night as the Monsoons erupted for 20 fourth quarter points. The Pioneers (3-2, 0-1) are still on pace for their best record since 2008, the last time they reached the playoffs. Gahr (2-3) dropped a 43-14 decision to La Habra and will be off tonight before opening San Gabriel Valley League action on Thursday against Warren. After taking a week off, the 0-4 John Glenn Eagles will host La Mirada tonight.
VOLLEYBALL
Five days after a huge road win at Downey, Cerritos couldn’t keep the momentum going at home as the Lady Dons lost their first Suburban League match this past Tuesday. La Mirada defeated Cerritos 25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20. The Lady Dons (5-7, 1-1) hosted Norwalk on Oct. 3 and will visit Glenn on Tuesday and Mayfair on Thursday. After nine days off, Gahr didn’t skip a beat as it swept Santa Fe 25-20, 28-26, 25-17 this past Tuesday. The Gladiators (5-10) opened up San Gabriel Valley League play on Oct. 3 with a home match against Warren and will visit Paramount on Tuesday before coming home two days later to face defending league champion Downey.
The hottest team in the area remains Valley Christian, which swept Fairmont Prep 25-11, 25-11, 25-13 this past Tuesday to improve to 14-3. The Lady Crusaders began Olympic League action on Oct. 3 with a road match at Maranatha and will visit Village Christian on Tuesday before hosting Heritage Christian on Thursday.
CROSS COUNTRY
Cerritos completed a sweep in the first Suburban League cluster meet last Thursday at Cerritos Regional Park as the boys easily ran past the competition while the girls held on against perennial power La Mirada. On the boys side, the Dons picked up 23 points led by seniors Joshua Quarles (16:39), Jonathan Carranza (16:54) and Shrineel Patel (16:58) who finished in second, third and fourth place respectively. For added measure, freshman Bill Chuang came in fifth place with a time of 17:03. Norwalk came in second place with 70 points as junior Christian Perez was the team’s top runner at 17:10.
Although La Mirada sophomore Samantha Huerta finished first with a time of 20:00, the Cerritos girls still won the meet with 41 points. La Mirada came in second with 53 points and Norwalk picked up 57 points. The Lady Lancers were led by sophomore Jennifer Osorio-Melendez, who finished in second with a time of 20:23. The top Cerritos was sophomore Amanda Atilano, who placed fourth with a time of 21:03.
The next league cluster meet will be on Thursday at La Mirada Regional Park.