WEEK TWO FOOTBALL – Norwalk’s offense stalls in fourth quarter as Lancers lose to late replacement opponent

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

After dismantling its first two opponents by a combined score of 97-19, Norwalk High was to have had its bye week last Friday in preparation for the annual Mayor’s Cup game with John Glenn High on Sept. 13. But due to the late cancellation of the contest, which was announced the day after the first game of the season, the Lancers had to find a new opponent to keep a 10-game regular season schedule in place.

Enter Scripps Ranch High, one of the top teams in recent seasons from San Diego County, which feasted on Costco pizza as its main pregame meal upon arrival to Norwalk, then feasted on the Lancers in the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half to hand Norwalk its first loss of the season, 29-12.

Norwalk did in the first half what Norwalk does nearly every game; pound the ball on the ground and chew up time. The Lancers had two drives in the first half, ran 32 plays, gained 141 yards and consumed 19:20 of a 24-minute half. Yet, they trailed 8-6 at the break as the Falcons ran 16 plays.

“We had a fast start,” said Norwalk head coach Ruben Guerrero. “We got them to give us the ball, and then we did what we do. We chewed up the clock; we moved the ball. We felt pretty good about what we were doing. I attribute the fast start to the kids being up for the challenge. “They were up for the challenge,” he continued. “They knew Scripps was a quality ballclub; they knew they were coming up from San Diego where there’s a lot of good football down there. They’ve been watching films; they’ve been looking at them throughout the week. So, they knew what was ahead of them. We put them on the ropes, but we didn’t.”

After a quick 75-second drive to begin the game, the Falcons were forced to punt and when the Lancers started at their own 29-yard line, they ran 14 plays, all on the ground, took 8:46 off the clock and grabbed a 6-0 lead when junior running back Diego Cerritos went in from two yards out.

Scripps Ranch responded by closing out the quarter, then took an 8-6 lead on the second play of the second quarter when Ryan Stadtherr rushed eight yards to the end zone and added the two-point conversion. But Norwalk bounced back and took a longer drive (18 plays, 71 yards, 10:34) only to see junior quarterback Axel Bustamante’s fourth down throw go incomplete. The Lancers had driven to the four-yard line thanks to a 28-yard run from senior running back Ezra Meuller. Three plays later, the ball was sitting at the two-yard line, but on fourth down, the hosts were called for a false start infraction ahead of the incomplete pass.

“We held on to the ball; we drove the ball, and we thought we were going in for the score,” said Guerrero. “But the way we’re built, we can’t go backwards and when you have penalties, that sets you backwards. It changes from a two-yard disposition to a six or seven-yard [disposition]. We had our opportunities, but we had miscues in our blocking and our communication up front, and it put us in a bad spot; a spot we couldn’t overcome.”

How crucial was that missed opportunity? The Lancers knew they were going to begin the second half with the ball and as it turned out, Meuller completed a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a six-yard run just 4:36 into the third quarter. The two-point conversion failed and when it was all said and done, Norwalk could have had a lead of anywhere from 18-8 to 22-8. Instead, the Lancers led 12-8.

The Falcons regained the lead for good four minutes later when Parker Armstrong connected with Kasen Mendez for a 13-yard score. Norwalk would then be held on downs on its next drive after gaining 10 yards. Scripps Ranch increased its advantage to 22-12 when Stadtherr added a 16-yard touchdown run.

Any chance of the Lancers getting back in the game was extinguished with 2:19 remaining when Markell Martin picked off Bustamante at the eight-yard line and returned it 92 yards to the house for the final touchdown of the game. Norwalk had driven from its own 24-yard line to the Scripps Ranch 34-yard line on 10 plays.

“Scripps put us in some tough spots,” said Guerrero of the second half. “They had a good plan; they’re real tough up front. I have to give them credit. That’s a heck of a ballclub over there and they put us in some positions that were head scratchers and were also hard to overcome. I tip my hat off to them.”

Meuller led everyone with 185 yards on 29 carries while Cerritos added 88 yards on 18 touches. Five other players carried the ball nine times for a combined zero yards and Meuller caught the lone completed pass from Bustamante, a 17-yarder midway through the fourth quarter. Norwalk was eight of 14 on third down conversions and three of five on fourth down attempts. Defensively, senior cornerback Tyler Burton, sophomore linebacker Onosai Faamatau and Meuller all had three tackles.

“We knew coming in we had our work cut out for us,” said Guerrero. “But I think this was a test. This really showed us where we are, what we need to work on and what need to do to move forward.”

Guerrero said he heard the week of Norwalk’s first game at Montebello High that there was a possibility the Mayor’s Cup could be cancelled and by the end of the week, that’s what had happened. Scripps Ranch, which originally had an open date last Friday, made the first contact to Norwalk as head coach Marlon Gardinera called Guerrero on Aug. 30 to set up the game. Guerrero said there were other teams that had shown interest, but the matchup with Scripps Ranch was the best one.

So, instead of preparing for a depleted Glenn team that was shutout by Los Angeles-based University High, 6-0 last Friday, the Lancers will have next week off before hosting Linfield Christian High on Sept. 20 in what figures to be another tough opponent. Last season, Norwalk travelled to Temecula and came up short against the Lions 22-20 with the difference being a missed two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. The Lancers also botched the snap on a potential game-winning field goal as time expired. Norwalk led 14-0 before Linfield Christian scored 12 points in the second quarter to trail at the half, then added 10 points in the third quarter.

“We’re going to go back to the drawing board,” said Guerrero. “We’ll watch film [on this game]’ we’ll get together as a staff and see what we need to go and work on. It’s a process-what went well, what didn’t, what do we need to work on and what do we need to do to move forward.

“Linfield Christian is a heck of a ballclub, as we saw last year,” he continued. “They’re making the trip over here. But we’re going to use our bye week to heal up and prep up for Linfield Christian.”