NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRESS ROW – La Mirada, sans transfer quarterback, gets throttled by Western

September 17, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

One of the reasons for the early success of the La Mirada High football team has been the play of sophomore transfer quarterback Ace Faagata from Desert Pines High in Las Vegas. Until he got injured in the second quarter against Tesoro High on Sept. 5, Faagata was 24 of 39 for 250 yards in 10 quarters of action as he was splitting time with junior Isaac Cuevas.

Without Faagata, the Matadores were unable to generate much offense in a 54-14 loss to Western High last Thursday at Handel Stadium. It was La Mirada’s worst loss since falling to Servite High 60-14 on Sept. 1, 2023.

According to La Mirada head coach Lucas Mealy, Faagata has some muscle and tissue damage to his lower calf which occurred in the 17-5 loss to Tesoro. He will be out of action for two to three weeks and Mealy hopes to have him back for the Gateway League opener against Warren High on Oct. 3.

The Pioneers scored twice within their first nine plays of the first quarter to build a 13-0 lead. Then midway through the opening quarter, the Matadores put together their best drive of the game, aided by a trio of 15-yard penalties by Western. Cuevas engineered a 19-play, 82-yard drive that lasted just over six minutes and ended when he tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Kaiden Wardlow with eight seconds left in the stanza.

“There were blimps of encouragement,” said Mealy. “We did some things well, but overall we did not do a lot of things well, and that’s on me as a coach. I need to prepare better. We’ll get it fixed and get ready for La Habra.”

The second quarter would prove to be disastrous for the Matadores as Western scored on the first play, complements of a 75-yard connection from Chance Thomas to Ernest Nunley. Cuevas would be intercepted three times in the quarter, all leading to touchdowns including a 90-yard return from Ayden Payne.

With the halftime score 48-7, both coaches agreed to play the entire second half under running clock conditions. Thomas would throw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Payne in the third quarter before sophomore running back Noah Lendo concluded the game’s scoring with a 19-yard run late in the game.

“Oh, it was me; I didn’t prepare the guys,” said Mealy of the downfall of the game. “It’s as simple as that. It’s not the kid’s fault, it’s on me. I have to have them prepared and I have to have them ready to go, and I did not have them prepared or ready to go. We have to come back as a group, and I have to do a better job as a coach and get these guys ready for the next game.”

Cuevas completed 10 passes for 80 yards and added 26 yards on five carries while junior running back Josiah Fregoso added 55 yards on nine rushes. Western outgained La Mirada 420-257 but in all-purpose yards, it was a 589-332 advantage thanks to a pair of interception returns and a 60-yard kickoff return from Maxwell Young.

La Mirada (2-2) will wrap up the non-league portion of its schedule on Friday when its hosts La Habra High. The Matadores fell to the Highlanders 48-21 last season in the first meeting between the schools in 10 seasons. Since 2009, La Habra has defeated La Mirada five times in seven meetings.

The Highlanders were edged by Mira Costa High 35-33 last Friday for their first loss in four games this season. La Habra opened the scoring before Mira Costa answered with two straight touchdowns to take a 14-6 lead into the second quarter. La Habra regained the lead at 27-21 with the only score of the third quarter and added its last touchdown, with a two-point conversion late in the contest.

This season, quarterback D.J. Mitchell passed for 729 yards and eight touchdowns to nine different players with Bryce Johnson (20 receptions, 314 yards, three touchdowns) and Blaze Rogers (14 receptions, 272 yards, three touchdowns) the top targets. Kevika Mata’Utia-Martinez leads the rushing attack with 299 yards on 43 carries and five touchdowns while Mitchell has added 212 yards on 34 carries and five touchdowns. On defense, the Highlanders have eight sacks from eight different players and seven interceptions from five different players.

Prediction: La Habra 35, La Mirada 17

Artesia High (2-2) @ San Gabriel High (4-0)-The last time Artesia was shutout, it was two seasons ago on its homecoming game, a 12-0 setback to Viewpoint High, and the previous season, the Pioneers did not score in half the games. Last Friday. Artesia was blanked by Buena Park High 14-0 as the red and black was held to 103 rushing yards and 80 passing yards from senior Joey Peck.

Elias Chavez gave the Coyotes a 7-0 lead with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter on a 34-yard run and Jimmy Bautista added a three-yard score early in the fourth quarter.

Peck has thrown for 264 yards and a touchdown splitting time with sophomore Jorge Velazquez, who is 11 of 16 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Those two have also combined for 330 yards on the ground and four touchdowns while senior Elijah Johnson has caught six passes for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Artesia will have its hands full with a San Gabriel squad that has allowed 55 points and defeated Carpinteria High 32-7 last Friday. In the first three games this season, quarterback Ricky Garcia has passed for 629 yards and nine touchdowns while Louie Navarro leads the ground game with 378 yards on 52 carries and two touchdowns.

This is the first meeting between the programs in at least 28 seasons.

Prediction: San Gabriel 31, Artesia 14

Cerritos High (2-2) @ Canyon High (2-2)-This game was played on Sept. 18 at Fred Kelly Stadium at El Modena High, Cerritos saw its brief two-game winning streak snapped by Valley Christian High last Friday, 42-23 as the Dons were held to 86 yards and six points in the second half. In the first three games, Cerritos scored at least 14 points after halftime.

The Dons face a team that led Sunny Hills High 35-26 after three quarters last Friday before falling 49-42. In the two victories by the Comanches, they outscored their opponents 66-36. But in the two losses, Canyon has been outscored 91-70.

The Cerritos pass defense will need to be on their toes as Canyon quarterback Alexander Lundsberg has already thrown for nearly 1,500 yards with a dozen touchdowns. He is completing 69 percent of his passes, and three of his six targets already have over 400 receiving yards. In addition, Canyon has close to 2,000 all-purpose yards.

This is the first meeting between the programs in at least 28 seasons.

Prediction: Canyon 31, Cerritos 21

Gahr High (1-2) @ Los Altos High (3-0)-This game was played on Sept. 18. The bye week following two blowout losses worked in Gahr’s favor as the Gladiators picked up a 33-21 win over Trinity Classical Academy last Friday. Senior quarterback Roman Acosta completed 13 of 20 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns while senior running back Jaidyn Backus carried the ball 17 times, gained 100 yards and scored twice. Sophomore wide receiver De’Mir Cunningham caught six passes for 171 yards.

However, Los Altos is a different cat as the Conquerors have defeated Wilson High out of Hacienda Heights 62-15, West Covina High 21-7 and most recently, Burroughs High out of Burbank 52-7. The combined record of those three teams are 3-7.

Diego Castillo has thrown for 640 yards and seven touchdowns and has gained 102 yards on the ground with three touchdowns while Evan Rojas has rushed for 153 yards with four touchdowns.

Los Altos knocked off Gahr 43-26 last season in the only other meeting between the two programs in at least 28 seasons. Gahr had more all-purpose yards (503-425) and Acosta threw for 148 yards but was picked off twice while the Conquerors rushed for 225 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Prediction: Los Altos 35, Gahr 10

John Glenn High (2-2) @ La Quinta High (1-1-1)-Things are slowly turning around for Glenn, which defeated Compton Early College 48-13 last Friday for its second straight win. It’s the most points the Eagles have scored since blasting Mark Keppel High 64-8 on Sept. 15, 2023 when the program went 6-4.

Glenn bolted out to a 21-0 first quarter against Compton Early College and got touchdowns from six players, including runs of 31 and 30 yards from senior running back Okaro Lee, a 38-yard interception return from freshman defensive back Kellen Huckleberry and an eight-yard punt return from sophomore lineman Jayden Chavarin.

La Quinta, which lost to Mountain View High 19-8 last Friday, has played in three low-scoring games, scoring 35 points while allowing 25 points.

These two teams should be familiar with each other as both have played Mountain View with Glenn losing 47-21 in the season opener, and since 1999, Glenn has an 8-3 series lead over La Quinta. In last season’s game, the Aztecs prevailed 32-12 and snapped a four-game losing streak to Glenn.

Prediction: Glenn 28, La Quinta 7

Paramount High (3-1) @ Norwalk High (4-0)-The area’s lone remaining undefeated team edged Venice High 28-27 last Friday in the closest win of the season. Now, the Lancers take on defending Mid-Cities League champion Paramount in the HMG-Community News Game of the Week.

It was status quo for the Lancers against Venice as senior running backs Diego Cerritos (29 carries, 131 yards, two touchdowns) and Daron Walker (26 carries, 123 yards, one touchdown) were nearly all the offense the purple and yellow needed. Senior quarterback Axel Bustamante was true on all three of his pass attempts, throwing for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Cerritos and Walker are already closing in on 700 yards each and the Lancers have allowed just six points in the first quarter as they prepare for their bye week after Friday.

Paramount lost to Orange High 44-0 last Friday after scoring 90 points in the first three games. in the three victories, Paramount quarterbacks Zechariah Moreno and Nicko Hernandez have combined for 404 yards and seven touchdowns while Serafin Solis was leading the team on the ground with 149 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, the Pirates have averaged three sacks through the first three games.

Last season, Paramount was in the Mid-Cities League and defeated Norwalk 28-7 in the first meeting between the teams since 2014. It was Norwalk’s lone league loss as the Pirates moved up to the Gateway League.

Prediction: Norwalk 34, Paramount 28

Valley Christian (2-2) @ St. Anthony High (0-3)-This game was played on Sept. 18 at Clark Field. One of the best ways to snap a two-game losing streak in which you had a halftime lead was to silence any doubters that V.C. could beat Cerritos without three key starters. But after the Defenders knocked off the Dons 42-23 last Friday, it’s apparent that junior quarterback Graham Lunzer is making the most of his first season at V.C.

The St. John Bosco High transfer completed 23 of 34 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns and gained 36 yards on 11 carries while scoring twice. For the season, Lunzer

St. Anthony fell to Summit High 21-0 last Friday as the SkyHawks gained 415 all-purpose yards as the Saints have been outscored 101-21 this season. This is the first meeting between the schools since 2019 when the Saints posted a 47-6 win. V.C. had taken the previous two meetings in 2016 (46-35) and 2017 (35-28).

Prediction: V.C. 35, St. Anthony 7

Last week’s predictions: 4-2

Season to date: 14-10

CROSS COUNTRY

The first 605 League cluster meet took place at Clark Park on Sept. 10 with Whitney High winning both varsity races. The girls picked up 32 points as the Wildcats had four runners place in the top seven. However, it was Cerritos senior Dani Romero claiming the top overall spot with a time of 19:59. Nearly a minute later was Whitney junior Katherine Low while Cerritos junior Kalana Nguyen was third with a time of 21:52.

After Oxford Academy’s Trina So came in fourth place (22:13), Whitney had the next three runners-senior Raphaela Flores (22:40), sophomore Madison Lee (23:20) and senior Emma Vincencio (23:28).

The Dons picked up 47 team points while Oxford Academy had 61 team points while for the boys. It was Whitney with 23 points, followed by Oxford Academy (52 points) and Cerritos (58 points).

Whitney senior Cristian Ishiki was the overall winner with a time of 17:04 and after Oxford Academy’s Hara Seyoum was next at 17:11, the next five runners came from area schools-Cerritos sophomore Vincent Valenzuela (17:17) and Whitney sophomore Ryan Perry (17:27), seniors Brendan Chen (17:27) and Avery Chen (17:30) and junior Eric Sillas (17:39).