WEEK FIVE FOOTBALL-Wilson scores five times as Cerritos dominates Hacienda Heights Wilson

Cerritos High senior kicker Mateo Arancibia (far left) booted a career-high 47-yard field goal with 7:06 left in the game against Hacienda Heights Wilson High last Thursday as part of a 53-17 victory. It was his second field goal. PHOTO BY JB QUIBRANTAR.

September 29, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

Cerritos High senior ‘Mr. Everything” Labrenton Wilson was wondering how he could follow-up his performance from the previous week against Canyon High. In the 31-28 win over the Comanches, he rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries, scored once and had an interception at the three-yard line that led to his first quarter touchdown.

Wilson’s encore performance last Thursday against Hacienda Heights Wilson High was better than anyone could have asked for as he rushed for 118 yards on 15 carries with three touchdowns, caught four passes for 112 yards and one touchdown, and returned a punt 80 yards in the third quarter for another score as the Dons had their way with the Wildcats in a 53-17 romp last Thursday at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium.

“That dude craves the spotlight,” said Cerritos head coach Demel Franklin. “He wants to be the man; he wants to get interviewed, he wants the touchdowns, the glory and everybody calling his name. He’s built for this. So on homecoming [night], the only thing that was missing was him getting crowned king. He was waiting his time and now he’s out there…he’s the most explosive athlete we have.”

“No, not really,” said Wilson when asked if it was an encore performance. “I wasn’t expecting it, but it just happened. And if it wasn’t for my O-line, none of this would have really happened. So, I really appreciate them for everything that they do for me.”

His five combined touchdowns are two off from the school record set on Sept. 20, 2013, when LaMarr Crowder scored seven rushing touchdowns in a 63-28 win over Ocean View High.

The onslaught began early as the first of his five touchdowns came on the third play of Cerritos’ initial possession, an 18-yard run with 10:35 left in the opening stanza. After junior Noah Schaffer recovered the ensuing onside kick, the Dons took nearly four minutes off the clock to make it 14-0 as a combination of runs from Wilson, senior running backs Jayden Bagaygay and Bailey Crawford and a pair of completions from senior quarterback Justin Sagun led to a nine-yard run from Wilson.

During that second drive for the hosts on homecoming night, Wilson knew he was going to have more work to do as Bagaygay and junior wide receiver Terrance Grissom each went down with minor injuries. Both should be back for Thursday’s home game against West Torrance High.

“We had injuries; we had guys going down,” said Franklin. “We had Jayden [go] down [and] Terrence Grissom went down in the first series. So, we kind of had to adjust on the fly and that’s kind of what we’ve been doing. Last week, we had all those injuries, so we have young guys getting experience and it’s going to pay off.”

“This is the dream season I had hoped for, and I’m glad that it happened,” said Wilson. “When Jayden got injured, it hurt me. And then when T.J. got injured, that also hurt me because I was like, dang, I have to do it all by myself. But it also just motivated me and to question myself because the team really needs me.”  

The Dons would score on all eight possessions they had, including field goals of 38 yards and 47 yards from senior Mateo Arancibia. However, the first field goal wouldn’t have happened because on the first play of the second quarter, Wilson busted loose for a 25-yard touchdown run. It was called back because of a holding penalty and three plays later the score increased to 16-0.

The Wildcats avoided the shutout when they went on their longest drive of the night; an 11-play, 40-yard ordeal which consumed 6:37. It ended when Alec Carbone booted a 27-yard field goal with 2:06 left before halftime. That was the beginning of a flurry of touchdowns as Sagun tossed a 53-yard touchdown play to Wilson 45 seconds later, which was answered by a 68-yard touchdown connection from Jason Flegance to Brian Silva on the last play of the half, making the score 23-10.

“We had a great week of practice in preparation,” said Franklin. “We watched so much film, and we’re changing in how we do our conditioning. We’re already in good shape, but we’re changing it again. We’re getting ready trying to gear up for the postseason. So we have to be ready for that.”

“At the end of the day, we were still practicing no matter what,” said Wilson. “How we prepared for Canyon is the same way we prepared for Wilson. It just was a different outcome.”

Cerritos began the second half on fire, taking the first 3:39 off the clock and ending the eight-play, 68-yard drive with a Wilson five-yard touchdown run. The Wildcats were then forced to punt and once again, it was Wilson who found the ball in his hands. This time, he matriculated 80 yards the other way and with 5:42 left in the quarter, it was 37-10. In all, Wilson had 310 all-purpose yards.

“Definitely one of the best performances,” said Franklin. “I can’t forget my O-line; they’ve been doing absolutely fabulous like they’ve been doing all year, [and] our defense did great.”

The offensive line he’s referring to is senior left tackle Devion Stinson, senior left guard Luke Bocanegra, senior center Jonathan Avendano, senior right guard Nathaneal Marcroft, and senior right tackle Chidubem Ozoagu.

After the punt return, Franklin decided to go for another onside kick, something that has been a recurring theme all season. It was unsuccessful and led to a 56-yard touchdown pass from Flegeance to Avery Carbone. For the game, the Dons were true on two of six onside kicks from Arancibia.

“If we like what we see in the front line; [if] they look like they can’t handle the ball, we’re going to try it,” said Franklin. “I have all the confidence in my defense, and we have to start on the 50 [yard line], that’s what it is.”

The last three scores of the game were a four-yard run from Crawford, a 47-yard field goal from Arancibia which came several plays after senior Michael Quibrantar picked off Flegeance on the second play of the fourth quarter, and a three-yard pass from junior quarterback Alexander Laurin to senior wide receiver Suvan Pradhan with 61 seconds remaining in the game.

Senior running back Jacob Hoosac gained 31 yards on six carries, followed by Pradhan (28 yards on 31 carries) and Crawford (27 yards on five carries). Sagun completed eight of 12 passes for 142 yards while senior Tyler Ky led the defense with eight tackles. Hoosac had seven tackles and junior linebacker Uriah Archie added half a dozen tackles. The defense limited the Wildcats to seven yards eight carries while Flegeance was busy with his 17 completions in 24 attempts for 196 yards. He had completed 11 straight before the interception.

Up next for Cerritos is a rematch with West Torrance High, which had no problems with the Dons last season in a 41-21 victory. Two seasons ago, Cerritos defeated the Warriors 27-21.

“They beat us last year pretty handily at their place,” said Franklin. “That quarterback has graduated, thank goodness, and now we face a different challenge. They have a very good running game, and they’re tough; they’re very tough. We have to definitely understand our assignments.”