Another slow start full of mistakes doomed Lakewood in its 55-21 loss to crosstown rival Mayfair on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Monsoons scored on the first play of the night and never looked back.
“I say the same thing every week, I love the way we keep fighting but we start slow,” Lakewood coach Justin Utupo said. “One of the things we talk about in the four quarters of winning is out of the gate starting fast. If we could do that, if we could put together four quarters of football, this team can do some great things.”
These two schools play for the Milk Bucket 24 times, and while Lakewood has won 16 of those games, this is the first time that Mayfair (3-0) has won the trophy four seasons in a row.
“Our mantra all week has been that we want to talk and own the city for a year,” Mayfair coach Derek Bedell said. “It’s a huge deal for a school like us. We’ve got 2,800 students. We’ve got 40 Varsity football players and they did a great job tonight and I’m really proud of them.”
The player of the game was undoubtedly Mayfair running back Nick Adimora. The 5’11” 190-pound senior finished the night with four touchdowns and 225 yards on 11 carries. He also had a receiving touchdown, and all but one of those big plays came in the first half to help the Monsoons take a 42-7 lead into halftime.
“I’ve been saying he’s special for three years and the fact that guy only has one Power 5 offer (from UNLV) is obnoxious,” Bedell said. “I’m literally calling out all of the Division 1 coaches. I don’t care how damn tall he is. That guy can play in any league, on any team on any day of the week.”
Lakewood (0-3) got a nice game from its own running back Zion Smith. The junior racked up 109 all-purpose yards and a late touchdown on just 11 touches.
Mayfair scored on its first six possessions of the game and quarterback Evan Tomich got the night started on a bubble screen pass to receiver Keith Dejean for a 46-yard touchdown. After a quick 3-and-out for Lakewood, the Monsoons scored again when Adimora took it in from six yards out.
Tomich, who finished the night 8/12 for 125 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, also had a touchdown pass to brother Owen Tomich.
Lakewood didn’t have problems getting into Mayfair territory, but penalties and four turnovers killed most of the first-half drives. Quarterback Brayden Downen completed passes to eight different receivers while throwing for 264 yards on 32 attempts.
There was a running clock in the fourth quarter.
The Lancers start the Moore League against Cabrillo next week.
