Lakewood hadn’t won or hosted a CIF Southern Section playoff game since 2010, but this season has been full of good news for the Lancers and first-year coach Scott Meyer.
After edging Brea Olinda in the first round of the Division 9 playoffs last week, Lakewood (5-6) is back at home to take on Highland in the quarterfinals tonight. Kickoff is scheduled for 7.
“We’re all excited,” Meyer said. “I thought we had a chance (to make the playoffs) once we got through our tough preseason but there were some tough times early on.”
Lakewood was coming off of consecutive three-win seasons, and started this year 1-3 while taking on top competition, but turned its season around in league play. The Lancers used a three-game winning streak to put themselves in position for an at-large bid.
Highland (8-3) finished second in the Golden League and is outscoring its opponents by an average score of 44-11. Senior quarterback Damien Pecoraro has thrown for 1,770 yards and 24 touchdowns for the Bulldogs, while senior running back Isaiah Creech has rushed for 1,382 yards and 22 touchdowns.
“They look pretty good on film,” Meyer said. “They’ve got an athletic team with an aggressive defense and good sized players.”
The Lancers will try and run the ball and maintain possession to keep Pecoraro and Creech on the sideline. Lakewood is averaging six yards per carry as a team while quarterback Gevani McCoy and James Voorhies have rushed for 19 touchdowns.
