The Lawndale football team will finally get a chance to play at home.
The Cardinals were scheduled to open the season Aug. 27 at home against Narbonne, but the game was canceled due to coronavirus issues within the Narbonne program.
The Cardinals opened the season Sept. 3 at Carlsbad and followed that with a trip to Cajon last Saturday.
“Carlsbad was basically in the fourth game when we played them,” Lawndale coach Travis Clark said. “Against Cajon (an 18-13 loss) I thought we outplayed them but they got the victory, but I felt like my team deserved it as well. I would love to play them again.”
The Cardinals (0-2) will not have to travel out of the South Bay for the remainder of the regular season, starting Friday with a home game against Cathedral (1-2). Their final nonleague game will be at home against Alemany on Sept. 24.
“I’m looking forward to Cathedral,” Clark said. “I think it’s an important game in terms of our season.”
The Cardinals led 13-6 in the fourth quarter last week and were on the verge of adding a score, but a penalty wiped it out. On the next play, Cajon intercepted a pass.
The Cowboys scored the final 12 points for an 18-13 win.
“I thought we were the more physical team,” Clark said.
Freshman quarterback Seth Shigg has shown brilliant flashes in the early days of the season.
Smart, calm, confident, cerebal are just some of the ways Clark describes the freshman.
“He gives us our best opportunity to win,” Clark said.
Shigg completed 12 of 20 passes for 238 yards against Cajon.
“He’s a hard-worker,” Clark said, “he’s always first in gassers, highly intelligent kid, great athlete, fast. He has a strong arm for a young kid. He’s a coach on the field, getting linemen lined up, telling wide receivers what routes they’re running. He’s pretty impressive.”
Still, the Cardinals have some work to do.
“Offensively, we need to be able to move the ball and put some more points on the board, get more efficient and not make mistakes, sustain drives and give the defense a break,” Clark said. “The defense has been playing a lot of hard-nose football.
“We have a lot of kids stepping up. …Thomas Johnson, defensive end and outside linebacker, has been very physical and intelligent. (Running back) Derek Boyd been playing on both sides of the ball, Demetrius Tidwell, Enzo Tayou, Orlando Greenlow and our offensive line is starting to jell and give us more of a Lawndale appearance. … I’m excited.”
Chadwick tops CIF-SS poll
Chadwick is the top-ranked team this week in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 8-man football poll.
The Dolphins are 2-0, with wins over Sage Hill 22-6 and Avalon 28-18.
In last week’s win over Avalon, Thomas Rosso had touchdown passes to Max Radmilovich, Kory Jackson and Tarius Hamlin.
Rolling Hills Prep bounces back
After suffering consecutive losses to start the season, Rolling Hills Prep defeated La Verne Lutheran 51-28 on Saturday.
The Huskies (1-2) are ranked 10th in this week’s Division 2 CIF-SS 8-man poll.
