WEEK ONE FOOTBALL: La Mirada dominates Norwalk behind Cuevas, Fregoso and defense

August 30, 2026

By Loren Kopff

@LorenKopff on X

It’s never easy to rebuild a district rivalry that had been significantly dominated by one team from the original Suburban League. But as the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District has discounted The Mayor’s Cup rivalry because it has been one-sided, another one is in the beginning stages of coming back.

Unofficially known as the Superintendent’s Cup, La Mirada High continued to display its strength over Norwalk High in a 38-0 win last Friday night at Goodman Memorial Stadium.

Senior quarterback Isaac Cuevas completed the first eight passes he threw and 15 of the first 21 attempts entering the fourth quarter for 267 yards and three touchdowns while senior running back Josiah Fregoso picked up 105 yards on 15 carries through three quarters and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.

“He stepped up; he’s grown a lot since he’s been here,” said La Mirada head coach Lucas Mealy on Cuevas. “He’s waited his turn, he’s been through some ups and downs, and he knows the system like the back of his hand. He knows exactly where I want the ball; where we want the ball and he’s a leader for us and he’s done all the things that we want him to do. His growth has obviously shown on the field and the things off the field are showing as well.”

It’s the 24^th victory in the past 26 meetings over the Lancers and kept the Matadores undefeated after two games for the second straight season. On top of that, it’s only the fifth time since 2012 that La Mirada has won its first two games. In that season, the Matadores outscored their first two foes 100-55.

“We went out there and handled business,” said Mealy. “I’m excited where we’re at. We got done with the last two games-South Gate and Norwalk and we’ll watch film tomorrow and fix some of the things that we have going on and make sure we’re ready to go for Bellflower.”

For the Lancers, who lost to Lawndale High 60-7 in the first game of the season, they had one good drive in the first half which ended in an interception by La Mirada senior free safety Wyatt Gorham at the La Mirada 25-yard line. After that, Norwalk could not get past midfield. In fact, the Lancers ran 25 plays in the half but were able to pick up 61 yards.

“Just little mistakes,” said Norwalk first-year head coach Anthony Cobbs. “It’s part of the process; we’re still in the process of learning this passing offense. We want to run the football, we want to throw the football, we want to get guys in space. We lack that go-to superstar, so we have to develop a bunch of young guys who haven’t had that type of pressure and have been put in those situations. It’s not excuses; it’s just the reality of it all, that we’re trying to create football players.”

La Mirada drove to Norwalk’s one-yard line on its opening possession of the game but on fourth and goal from the three-yard line, a bad snap from center erased any chance of the Matadores scoring. However, almost four minutes later after the defense created a three and out, Cuevas found junior wide receiver Adan Tedrick for a 23-yard connection and the hosts had a 7-0 lead.

Again, the Matadores drove deep into Norwalk territory but another bad snap from center, this time a 27-yard loss, pushed the team back to the 32-yard line as the second quarter began. Sophomore wide receiver Kaiden Wardlow hauled in a 31-yard reception but on the next play, La Mirada was stopped on fourth and goal from the one-yard line.

“We get to the red zone, and we have two snaps over our heads,” said Mealy. “That’s big for us and we have fix that; clean that up. We’re kind of going back and forth with our centers. We have to make sure we fix that going into Bellflower [on Friday] because Bellflower is a good quality opponent. We can’t leave points on the board, but ultimately, we’ll clean it up. It’s early in the year and we have to make sure we’re better at it.”

Still, La Mirada’s defense bailed out the offense with another three and out and on the fourth possession, Cuevas connected with Wardlow for a 20-yard touchdown play and it was 14-0 with 8:46 left in the half.

The Matadores scored twice in the final 65 seconds of the half as Fregoso scored from 22 yards out, then following the third three and out from the defense, Fregoso hauled in a 52-yard scoring strike from Cuevas on fourth down as time expired. Just in the first half alone, Cuevas was 13 of 17 for 252 yards and connected with five receivers.

“Ultimately we have some players who can play football,” said Mealy. “From receivers to tight ends to running backs…we have guys who can catch the ball and move and get into open space. Isaac’s job is to find the guy who is open, and ultimately if we do that, then we’ll be alright.”

Fregoso added another touchdown, this one from 13 yards out, just past the midway part of the third quarter and senior Christian Hecker booted a 26-yard field goal with 8:21 left in the game under a running clock situation.

Norwalk sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Lopez had a pair of 15-yard passes in the first half and one more for 10 yads for the only three plays that resulted in double-digit yardage. After that, Norwalk had two other plays which resulted in more than five yards.

“We found a few ball players; a few kids came up from the [junior varsity team] and played pretty well,” said Cobbs. “Fernando Avina played well; he’ll probably become a starter. Gio Corona played pretty well; he’s also a j.v. guy who we brought up. A couple of guys got banged up, but the positives were that we didn’t give up, and guys kept playing.

“We have three more shots of this in the preseason and then it counts,” he later said. “So, this one counted; this one hurts, but that’s a good team over there. La Mirada has always been a good team. They have good athletes, they have a good system, and we have to get to that. We have to get some kids in the neighborhood, [and] we have to get some kids out of the neighborhood. To play this style, we need more athletes.”

Norwalk will travel to Pasadena High on Friday, hoping to build off last season’s 42-34 victory over the Bulldogs while Norwalk visits another former original Suburban League member in Bellflower High. Since 2004, La Mirada has won 16 of 19 games against Bellflower including the last meeting in 2024, a 20-6 affair. The last time the Buccaneers defeated the Matadores was in 2011, a 21-7 contest, and the other two victories came in 2006 and 2007.

“Pasadena will not be the same Pasadena that’s usually very fast and very deep,” said Cobbs. “They’re not the same; this year they’re lacking the numbers. So we understand that they’re not going to be very strong, but we can’t take them too lightly with the two losses we have. We have to go ahead and take care of business. We have to go out and get the win.”

“Bellflower is a legitimate opponent,” said Mealy. “Coach [Keith] Miller over there has some athletes, and I think they have some guys up front. I haven’t broken them down too much yet. We have to make sure we’re prepared for all the different things they do offensively and defensively and special teams-wise.”