2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW: La Mirada faces new, tougher challenges but confident in having better season

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

LA MIRADA MATADORES

4-7 overall last season, 2-3 in the Gateway League, fourth place, lost to Beckman High 41-21 in the Division 8 first round playoffs

21-32 overall last five seasons

Head coach: Lucas Mealy (fourth season, 10-21)

Lost 18 seniors out of 64 players from 2025 opening day roster

Last missed the playoffs: 2024

2026 schedule

Aug. 20      @ South Gate (11-4 overall last season, Division II CIF-Los Angeles City Section)

Aug. 28      Norwalk (10-1, D. 9)

Sept. 4       @ Bellflower (8-5, D. 12)

Sept. 11     @ Brea Olinda (10-4, D. 8) lost finals

Sept. 18     El Rancho (6-5, D. 10)

Sept. 25     BYE

Oct. 2         Cerritos (9-3, D. 9)

Oct. 9         @ La Serna (9-4, D. 5)

Oct. 16       Downey (9-2, D. 2)

Oct. 23       Warren (5-7, D. 9)

Oct. 30       @ Mayfair (4-7, D. 7)

After two straight seasons of identical 3-7 overall records, 2-3 Gateway League marks and fourth place finishes, La Mirada High head coach Lucas Mealy finally reached the postseason with one more victory. It’s the baby steps the Matadores made last season that Mealy hopes will produce a better 2026 season in the newest version of the Gateway League.

“It was definitely a step in the right direction,” said Mealy. “Obviously, [going] 4-6 [in the regular season] isn’t our goal, but we beat Troy on a last second field goal, which is pretty good for us as far as building the confidence up on how to win. We really want to teach these kids how to win, because when I got here, these kids didn’t know what winning was, and they almost accepted losing.

“So last year was a good step; we got that extra week of playoffs,” he continued. “Obviously, we ran into a pretty good Beckman team who ended up winning the CIF Division 8 championship. Overall, it was a really good success for us. Again, the big thing was to get our kids in a position to where they could overcome adversity, and we did make some progress on that.”

One of the positives from La Mirada’s first playoff game since the program went to the quarterfinals in 2021 under former head coach Mike Moschetti was the fact that the score was 14-14 after the first quarter and only 20-14 at halftime. The Matadores missed a golden chance of taking the lead at the break, then couldn’t get the stops they needed in the second half.

Now that this is Mealy’s fourth season at La Mirada, none of the seniors were part of the Moschetti era. Mealy went on to say that his teams have been playing at an up-tempo pace and they conduct practices, lift and coordinate the everyday activities different than before he took over.

“All these seniors know what I’ve been around,” said Mealy. “The same thing with the juniors, sophomores and freshmen. But there’s definitely that fourth year where it’s like these kids don’t know anything other than what coach Mealy has brought into their lives. Without being disrespectful to the old regime, that’s a big thing for us because if you watch us practice on a daily basis compared to how we did, not just last year, but the year before and going back to my first year, we do things the way I want them done and I’m confident in what we’re doing; that we’re going to find success with the way that we’re doing it.”

OFFENSE

The Matadores scored at least 24 points in all four victories but no more than 21 points in the seven losses. Returning at quarterback is senior Isaac Cuevas (68 of 141, 558 yards. three touchdowns, eight interceptions last season). But no longer on the team is junior Ace Faagata (52 of 96, 520 yards, two touchdowns, four interceptions in seven games), who had transferred from Desert Pines High in Las Vegas last offseason. This is the third season on the varsity unit for Cuevas, who according to Mealy, is a gunslinger.

“I’m not comparing him talentwise to Brett Favre, but our comparison with him as Brett Favre is he’s going to sling the ball; he’s going to make some throws that maybe we look back and go, ‘well, maybe he shouldn’t have thrown it’, but he’s going to complete it, then he’ll make some other throws where you [say] you live by that, you die by that.”

Backing up Cuevas will be sophomore Sam Cameron, a transfer from St. John Bosco High. At running back, the Matadores will be locked and loaded with seniors Josiah Fregoso (118 carries, 678 yards, six touchdowns) and Ismael Garcia (117 carries, 678 yards, seven touchdowns) and junior Matthew Sotelo Jr., a transfer from St. Paul High who will be the second guy behind Fregoso with Garcia the third running back on the depth chart.

“Josiah obviously is a great running back, but the best trait that Josiah has besides being a great young man is his ability once he gets the ball in his hands,” said Mealy. “His acceleration, his explosiveness, his vision, his feel…it’s hands down. We’re going to use Josiah in a multiple of different ways.”

Mealy added that Fregoso will be used as an all-purpose guy, so even if he doesn’t get 1,000 yards rushing the ball, he’ll certainly eclipse that mark with the yards he gets from kickoff and punt returns and from catching the ball. He continued by saying that the goal is to get the ball in Fregoso’s hands at least 20 times a game.

The Matadores will have a plethora of receivers for Garcia to throw to in Fregoso (11 receptions, 64 yards), seniors Jaleel Scott (seven receptions, 80 yards) and Matthew Solorio (six receptions, 68 yards), junior Adan Tedrick (nine receptions, 86 yards), and sophomores Brody Palmer and Kaiden Wardlow (46 receptions, 422 yards, four touchdowns), who is Mealy’s nephew. Also seeing some action is senior Wyatt Gorham, who is also a starting free safety on defense.

“You’re going to see a lot of receivers touching the ball depending on where [the opposition] is putting that seventh or eighth defender,” said Mealy.

Mealy says his offensive line is the best that he has had in his four seasons at La Mirada and up to nine linemen could see a lot of time in the five positions. With less than two weeks before the season opener, none of the nine have been guaranteed of starting positions, but the front five will stack up in a rotation formation with junior left tackle Aiden Land, who moves from right tackle, seniors Matthew Alvarado and DeAngelo Garcia, juniors Guillermo Lopez, Carl Peter and Sotelo (Charlie) Sitani, who was the center last season, and sophomores Raymond Garcia, who will be battling for right tackle, a pair of St. Paul transfers in Steven Rodriguez and Robert Sanchez, who will have to sit out the first half of the season, and Zack Taylor.

Mealy hinted that his team can go into a game this year with all five sophomores playing. But his entire offense has been built to win more games this season and compete for one of the top three spots in the Gateway League.

“Not just from a physical standpoint of what they can do as far as making plays, catching, blocking, throwing, we have some depth, which is crucial,” said Mealy. “But we also have a higher understanding of what we’re doing. Most of these guys played for us last year and having that extra week it allowed us to bring some freshmen up to see how we do things. So, our schematics are far more advanced than they were last year.”

DEFENSE

La Mirada allowed over 25 points in six games, all losses. It’s best defensive performance came in a 34-7 victory against Dominguez High. The line took a little bit of a hit with its lack of depth, but Mealy is confident that his team will have the best defensive line in the league. The line will consist of seniors Amir McCalope, who is being recruited by Boise State University and Fresno State University, to name a few, and Christopher Sowell, juniors Vito Consoloe and Christian Prado (23 tackles, four sacks), a third year starter who Mealy says is a high level explosive young man, and sophomore Riley Gonzales (44 tackles, four sacks), who has some ‘incredible ability on the field’.

In the secondary, it will be Gorham (18 tackles, two interceptions), a starting free safety, seniors Fernando Orozco (52 tackles), a strong safety who has already received Division II offers and is probably the team’s best overall defensive players in terms of his ability to play the game, according to Mealy, Jaylen Scott, who has had the best offseason of any player Mealy has ever coached, and Marcus Sowell.

Junior Ryan Gonzales, who spent the last two seasons on the defensive line, earning all Gateway League honors, moves to middle linebacker and will be joined with fellow juniors Anthony Franco and Mathew Ybarra (47 tackles). The Matadores will operate with three linebackers with junior Noah Lendo being the next guy up.

“I’m confident in them; we have to figure out a little bit of our identity,” said Mealy of his defense. “The one thing that I’ll give is everybody bashed our defense the first two years because they’re giving up 46 points a game and when you look at the offense which has four turnovers a game and they’re going three and out nine times a game, it’s hard to play defense. I think for the first time since I’ve been here, the defense is going to have the confidence of knowing that the offense is going to have their back. They don’t have to be perfect. We’re going to blitz a lot this year and we’re going to get after the quarterback.”

SCHEDULE

La Mirada’s schedule this season will have a variety of the old and new in the sense that South Gare High is the only repeat non-league foe it will face. Last season’s opener was a 34-16 win that was put away with a 20-point fourth quarter, But the Matadores will face former Suburban League rival Norwalk High for the first time since 2023 and have won nine straight against the Lancers. After that, La Mirada goes on the road against Bellflower High, another former Suburban League rival whom it has won 11 straight against, and Brea Olinda High, first time opponent in recent memory, who fell in the Division 8 championship game. The non-league slate ends with a home encounter with El Rancho High, another first time opponent, from at least the past 20 seasons. Including the five league games, this might be La Mirada’s toughest schedule in a long time as all 10 opponents went to the playoffs last season with four advancing to at least the semifinals.

“We know South Gate played 15 games and those extra playoff weeks are huge,” said Mealy. “They have some studs returning; their quarterback is a stud back there and they gave us fits last year. Then Norwalk has a new coach. I’m not super familiar with them, but I heard nothing but great things about them. I know they’re getting away from that Wing-T [offense].”

Nothing will come easy with the league opponents, even with Cerritos High, which has not defeated the Matadores since 2001, a 28-17 victory. La Mirada has won four of six games against La Serna High dating back to 2016 but is winless against Downey High and Warren High in 10 combined games since 2018 and has lost nine straight meetings against Mayfair High.

“No disrespect to Cerritos, but our last four-game stretch right there-La Serna, Downey, Warren and Mayfair…there’s not a lot of teams in Southern California playing that four-game stretch,” said Mealy. “Obviously, you have your big dogs; your Mater Dei’s, your [St. John] Bosco’s. You have your Alpha League in Orange County, but as far as public schools goes in L.A. County, I challenge somebody to name me a tougher four-game stretch to end the season. It’s going to be a grind and it’s going to be fun.”

HOMECOMING

Since 1975, La Mirada holds a 22-5 advantage over Cerritos, which will be the homecoming opponent. The last time the new league opponents faced each other was Sept. 29, 2017, and La Mirada routed Cerritos 56-7 in a Suburban League contest. The Matadores scored three touchdowns in the first and third quarters each and displayed just over 500 yards total offense. The last time Cerritos defeated La Mirada was in 2001, a 28-17 victory. The next two seasons, La Mirada escaped with 17-7 and 10-7 wins, and when the Matadores defeated Dominguez High 34-7 last season, it was the program’s first homecoming victory since defeating Paramount High 2022.

FINAL COMMENT

“We’re excited; we know we have a grind in front of us,” said Mealy. “But we’re in a good position, I feel like, and we’re just eager to get to game one and go from there.”

2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

La Mirada faces new, tougher challenges but confident in having better season

By Loren Kopff

@LorenKopff on X

LA MIRADA MATADORES

4-7 overall last season, 2-3 in the Gateway League, fourth place, lost to Beckman High 41-21 in the Division 8 first round playoffs

21-32 overall last five seasons

Head coach: Lucas Mealy (fourth season, 10-21)

Lost 18 seniors out of 64 players from 2025 opening day roster

Last missed the playoffs: 2024

2026 schedule

Aug. 20      @ South Gate (11-4 overall last season, Division II CIF-Los Angeles City Section)

Aug. 28      Norwalk (10-1, D. 9)

Sept. 4       @ Bellflower (8-5, D. 12)

Sept. 11     @ Brea Olinda (10-4, D. 8) lost finals

Sept. 18     El Rancho (6-5, D. 10)

Sept. 25     BYE

Oct. 2         Cerritos (9-3, D. 9)

Oct. 9         @ La Serna (9-4, D. 5)

Oct. 16       Downey (9-2, D. 2)

Oct. 23       Warren (5-7, D. 9)

Oct. 30       @ Mayfair (4-7, D. 7)

After two straight seasons of identical 3-7 overall records, 2-3 Gateway League marks and fourth place finishes, La Mirada High head coach Lucas Mealy finally reached the postseason with one more victory. It’s the baby steps the Matadores made last season that Mealy hopes will produce a better 2026 season in the newest version of the Gateway League.

“It was definitely a step in the right direction,” said Mealy. “Obviously, [going] 4-6 [in the regular season] isn’t our goal, but we beat Troy on a last second field goal, which is pretty good for us as far as building the confidence up on how to win. We really want to teach these kids how to win, because when I got here, these kids didn’t know what winning was, and they almost accepted losing.

“So last year was a good step; we got that extra week of playoffs,” he continued. “Obviously, we ran into a pretty good Beckman team who ended up winning the CIF Division 8 championship. Overall, it was a really good success for us. Again, the big thing was to get our kids in a position to where they could overcome adversity, and we did make some progress on that.”

One of the positives from La Mirada’s first playoff game since the program went to the quarterfinals in 2021 under former head coach Mike Moschetti was the fact that the score was 14-14 after the first quarter and only 20-14 at halftime. The Matadores missed a golden chance of taking the lead at the break, then couldn’t get the stops they needed in the second half.

Now that this is Mealy’s fourth season at La Mirada, none of the seniors were part of the Moschetti era. Mealy went on to say that his teams have been playing at an up-tempo pace and they conduct practices, lift and coordinate the everyday activities different than before he took over.

“All these seniors know what I’ve been around,” said Mealy. “The same thing with the juniors, sophomores and freshmen. But there’s definitely that fourth year where it’s like these kids don’t know anything other than what coach Mealy has brought into their lives. Without being disrespectful to the old regime, that’s a big thing for us because if you watch us practice on a daily basis compared to how we did, not just last year, but the year before and going back to my first year, we do things the way I want them done and I’m confident in what we’re doing; that we’re going to find success with the way that we’re doing it.”

OFFENSE

The Matadores scored at least 24 points in all four victories but no more than 21 points in the seven losses. Returning at quarterback is senior Isaac Cuevas (68 of 141, 558 yards. three touchdowns, eight interceptions last season). But no longer on the team is junior Ace Faagata (52 of 96, 520 yards, two touchdowns, four interceptions in seven games), who had transferred from Desert Pines High in Las Vegas last offseason. This is the third season on the varsity unit for Cuevas, who according to Mealy, is a gunslinger.

“I’m not comparing him talentwise to Brett Favre, but our comparison with him as Brett Favre is he’s going to sling the ball; he’s going to make some throws that maybe we look back and go, ‘well, maybe he shouldn’t have thrown it’, but he’s going to complete it, then he’ll make some other throws where you [say] you live by that, you die by that.”

Backing up Cuevas will be sophomore Sam Cameron, a transfer from St. John Bosco High. At running back, the Matadores will be locked and loaded with seniors Josiah Fregoso (118 carries, 678 yards, six touchdowns) and Ismael Garcia (117 carries, 678 yards, seven touchdowns) and junior Matthew Sotelo Jr., a transfer from St. Paul High who will be the second guy behind Fregoso with Garcia the third running back on the depth chart.

“Josiah obviously is a great running back, but the best trait that Josiah has besides being a great young man is his ability once he gets the ball in his hands,” said Mealy. “His acceleration, his explosiveness, his vision, his feel…it’s hands down. We’re going to use Josiah in a multiple of different ways.”

Mealy added that Fregoso will be used as an all-purpose guy, so even if he doesn’t get 1,000 yards rushing the ball, he’ll certainly eclipse that mark with the yards he gets from kickoff and punt returns and from catching the ball. He continued by saying that the goal is to get the ball in Fregoso’s hands at least 20 times a game.

The Matadores will have a plethora of receivers for Garcia to throw to in Fregoso (11 receptions, 64 yards), seniors Jaleel Scott (seven receptions, 80 yards) and Matthew Solorio (six receptions, 68 yards), junior Adan Tedrick (nine receptions, 86 yards), and sophomores Brody Palmer and Kaiden Wardlow (46 receptions, 422 yards, four touchdowns), who is Mealy’s nephew. Also seeing some action is senior Wyatt Gorham, who is also a starting free safety on defense.

“You’re going to see a lot of receivers touching the ball depending on where [the opposition] is putting that seventh or eighth defender,” said Mealy.

Mealy says his offensive line is the best that he has had in his four seasons at La Mirada and up to nine linemen could see a lot of time in the five positions. With less than two weeks before the season opener, none of the nine have been guaranteed of starting positions, but the front five will stack up in a rotation formation with junior left tackle Aiden Land, who moves from right tackle, seniors Matthew Alvarado and DeAngelo Garcia, juniors Guillermo Lopez, Carl Peter and Sotelo (Charlie) Sitani, who was the center last season, and sophomores Raymond Garcia, who will be battling for right tackle, a pair of St. Paul transfers in Steven Rodriguez and Robert Sanchez, who will have to sit out the first half of the season, and Zack Taylor.

Mealy hinted that his team can go into a game this year with all five sophomores playing. But his entire offense has been built to win more games this season and compete for one of the top three spots in the Gateway League.

“Not just from a physical standpoint of what they can do as far as making plays, catching, blocking, throwing, we have some depth, which is crucial,” said Mealy. “But we also have a higher understanding of what we’re doing. Most of these guys played for us last year and having that extra week it allowed us to bring some freshmen up to see how we do things. So, our schematics are far more advanced than they were last year.”

DEFENSE

La Mirada allowed over 25 points in six games, all losses. It’s best defensive performance came in a 34-7 victory against Dominguez High. The line took a little bit of a hit with its lack of depth, but Mealy is confident that his team will have the best defensive line in the league. The line will consist of seniors Amir McCalope, who is being recruited by Boise State University and Fresno State University, to name a few, and Christopher Sowell, juniors Vito Consoloe and Christian Prado (23 tackles, four sacks), a third year starter who Mealy says is a high level explosive young man, and sophomore Riley Gonzales (44 tackles, four sacks), who has some ‘incredible ability on the field’.

In the secondary, it will be Gorham (18 tackles, two interceptions), a starting free safety, seniors Fernando Orozco (52 tackles), a strong safety who has already received Division II offers and is probably the team’s best overall defensive players in terms of his ability to play the game, according to Mealy, Jaylen Scott, who has had the best offseason of any player Mealy has ever coached, and Marcus Sowell.

Junior Ryan Gonzales, who spent the last two seasons on the defensive line, earning all Gateway League honors, moves to middle linebacker and will be joined with fellow juniors Anthony Franco and Mathew Ybarra (47 tackles). The Matadores will operate with three linebackers with junior Noah Lendo being the next guy up.

“I’m confident in them; we have to figure out a little bit of our identity,” said Mealy of his defense. “The one thing that I’ll give is everybody bashed our defense the first two years because they’re giving up 46 points a game and when you look at the offense which has four turnovers a game and they’re going three and out nine times a game, it’s hard to play defense. I think for the first time since I’ve been here, the defense is going to have the confidence of knowing that the offense is going to have their back. They don’t have to be perfect. We’re going to blitz a lot this year and we’re going to get after the quarterback.”

SCHEDULE

La Mirada’s schedule this season will have a variety of the old and new in the sense that South Gare High is the only repeat non-league foe it will face. Last season’s opener was a 34-16 win that was put away with a 20-point fourth quarter, But the Matadores will face former Suburban League rival Norwalk High for the first time since 2023 and have won nine straight against the Lancers. After that, La Mirada goes on the road against Bellflower High, another former Suburban League rival whom it has won 11 straight against, and Brea Olinda High, first time opponent in recent memory, who fell in the Division 8 championship game. The non-league slate ends with a home encounter with El Rancho High, another first time opponent, from at least the past 20 seasons. Including the five league games, this might be La Mirada’s toughest schedule in a long time as all 10 opponents went to the playoffs last season with four advancing to at least the semifinals.

“We know South Gate played 15 games and those extra playoff weeks are huge,” said Mealy. “They have some studs returning; their quarterback is a stud back there and they gave us fits last year. Then Norwalk has a new coach. I’m not super familiar with them, but I heard nothing but great things about them. I know they’re getting away from that Wing-T [offense].”

Nothing will come easy with the league opponents, even with Cerritos High, which has not defeated the Matadores since 2001, a 28-17 victory. La Mirada has won four of six games against La Serna High dating back to 2016 but is winless against Downey High and Warren High in 10 combined games since 2018 and has lost nine straight meetings against Mayfair High.

“No disrespect to Cerritos, but our last four-game stretch right there-La Serna, Downey, Warren and Mayfair…there’s not a lot of teams in Southern California playing that four-game stretch,” said Mealy. “Obviously, you have your big dogs; your Mater Dei’s, your [St. John] Bosco’s. You have your Alpha League in Orange County, but as far as public schools goes in L.A. County, I challenge somebody to name me a tougher four-game stretch to end the season. It’s going to be a grind and it’s going to be fun.”

HOMECOMING

Since 1975, La Mirada holds a 22-5 advantage over Cerritos, which will be the homecoming opponent. The last time the new league opponents faced each other was Sept. 29, 2017, and La Mirada routed Cerritos 56-7 in a Suburban League contest. The Matadores scored three touchdowns in the first and third quarters each and displayed just over 500 yards total offense. The last time Cerritos defeated La Mirada was in 2001, a 28-17 victory. The next two seasons, La Mirada escaped with 17-7 and 10-7 wins, and when the Matadores defeated Dominguez High 34-7 last season, it was the program’s first homecoming victory since defeating Paramount High 2022.

FINAL COMMENT

“We’re excited; we know we have a grind in front of us,” said Mealy. “But we’re in a good position, I feel like, and we’re just eager to get to game one and go from there.”