LONG BEACH — Lakewood football routed Jordan on Friday night, and the team’s two senior offensive captains stole the spotlight.
Lancers quarterback Kade Casillas, a Wayne State commit, and receiver Tiwan Jones paved the way in a 33-2 win over the Panthers (1-6, 0-3) in a Moore League game.
The duo got off to a hot start, scoring the first 26 points for Lakewood (5-3,3-1).
Casillas got things rolling with a 3-yard touchdown run on their second offensive possession.
He finished the night throwing for 165 yards, rushing for 30 yards and had four total touchdowns.
“We started with the run and that opened up the pass. I hit Tiwan and hit our junior receiver Jayden Moore. It was just good,” said Casillas.
Jones followed it with a big 50-yard punt return for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14.
Jones faked the Panthers’ punting team by pointing to the ball and letting it bounce once, before scooping it up and taking it to the house.
“I was going to call fair catch but when I’d seen it bounce straight up, I dipped myself and I got out of there and I made a play,” said Jones.
Casillas found Jones on their ensuing offensive possession for a 63-yard touchdown to go up by 20. Jones would also come away with an interception late in the fourth quarter.
Late in the second quarter and following a turnover on downs set up by a mishandled punt attempt by Panther’s punter Eduardo Cabrera, Casillas again quickly found the end zone on a 14-yard scramble to take a 26-0 lead into halftime.
Things only kept getting worse for Jordan.
Panthers’ quarterback Sama’Jay Jackson threw his first of two interceptions to linebacker Sammy Gomez. That set up Casillas and his offense for another touchdown drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown catch by Moore.
“I thought in all facets of the game we played well. One of the things with us is we wanted to make sure we weren’t going to play sloppy,” said Lakewood head coach Mario Morales. “I’m overall very pleased.”
The Panthers offense struggled to move the ball throughout the game, totaling just 123 yards of total offense, 84 of those yards coming from senior running back Marcus Williams.
Despite the struggles, Jordan’s defense managed to grab a few key plays in the fourth quarter with a Marquice Horton interception and a safety in the final minute.
Jordan will travel to Compton to take on the Tarbabes on Saturday, Oct. 18.
With its win Friday, and Poly’s win over Millikan, Lakewood holds on to third place in the Moore League.
The Lancers will face Millikan on Friday, Oct. 17, before meeting Wilson in their final league game.