LAWNDALE — The Lawndale football team is working through some growing pains so far this season.
The Cardinals had chances to win their game last week against Cajon, but couldn’t avoid costly mistakes late in the game.
Friday, in their first home game of the season, the Cardinals (1-2) jumped out to an early lead against Cathedral, had some moments where they flirted with disaster, but eventually prevailed, 16-6.
“I accept the win, it is better than a loss,” Lawndale coach Travis Clark said. “We played alright. First half, we played decent, too many penalties, not secure with the ball, we have a lot to clean up.
“We’re a young team and that’s what happens with young teams, they frustrate you at times, but I saw flashes and if we can stay consistent, we’re going to be a tough team down the road.”
The Cardinals scored on their first possession of the game, led by freshman quarterback Seth Shigg. On the sixth play of the drive, Shigg found Orlando Greenlow wide open for a 36-yard touchdown for the 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Shigg hooked up with Jesse Anderson for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead.
“I have to keep him calm, because he’s ready to go,” Clark said of Shigg. “The kid is fiery. I thought he got a little lackadaisical there in the end, but that’s just because of the youth. This thing has slowed down for him. The kid is going to be a special one.”
As easy as those two drives seemed, the offense wouldn’t get back in the end zone for the remainder of the game.
Later in the half, the Cardinals added a safety for a 16-0 lead.
The Cardinals could have went up by three touchdowns, but freshman Sean Weston fumbled on his way to the end zone.
“Cathedral is a competitive team, giving us a great platform to see, this is what it looks like,” Clark said. “I think we’ve played three possible playoff teams (Carlsbad, Cajon and Cathedral) and we’re going to have another next week against Alemany. So, I think it is great for my young team to see this kind of product on the field and it is just going to make us better later on as we get ready for league.”
Defensively, the Cardinals turned in another strong effort, holding the Phantoms out of the end zone until a fourth quarter touchdown with 4:17 remaining in the game.
“I wanted to keep them to keep them (Cathedral) out of the end zone, but they were aided (by penalties) in that drive,” Clark said. “The defense has been stellar all season, those guys are special and we’re going to keep getting better.”
Lawndale will conclude its nonleague schedule with Alemany, Friday night.
