Wilson is playing its first football game on its new field turf tonight as the Bruins host Mayfair at 7 p.m.
The professional friendship between Wilson coach Mark Ziegenhagen and Mayfair coach Derek Bedell has created a great local rivalry between the Bruins and Monsoons. This is the third consecutive season opening meeting for these teams. Wilson won the first meeting on the road 35-6, and lost at home last year 37-7.
Two failed punt attempts in the first quarter gave Mayfair an early lead and junior safety Chris Adimora’s back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns in the third quarter put the game away.
“Obviously they’ve got some guys,” Ziegenhagen said of Mayfair. “(Adimora) is going to be the guy to stop. We have to be aware of where he is at all times.”
Ziegenhagen and Bedell have been friends since their kids played Los Altos youth baseball together. The two longtime assistants promised each other that whoever got a head coaching job first, the other would serve in a coordinator position. Sure enough, when Ziegenhagen got the Wilson job, he hired Bedell to be his offensive coordinator—except that then Mayfair hired Bedell as their head coach a few short months later. This game is the result of that relationship and their friendship. They play for the SP Cup.
“I like the idea of playing local games all of the time,” Bedell said last year. “It’s important and this is a special night. To have something like this in this community between Lakewood and Long Beach is special.”
“There are a lot of things we do the same as coaches, and I think that’s why we’ve been friends for so long,” Ziegenhagen said of he and Bedell.
