Lakewood’s Davian Avila faces the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood’s Murdoch Langdon faces the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood head football coach Mario Morales addresses the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood’s Murdoch Joseph Macias faces the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood’s Aidan Kautsky addresses the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood’s Aidan Kautsky addresses the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Lakewood head football coach Mario Morales addresses the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
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Lakewood’s Davian Avila faces the media on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Millikan High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
LAKEWOOD — The Lakewood football team will have a new starting quarterback for the first time since 2023, and Aidan Kautsky believes he’s up to the task.
The 6-foot-2 senior, who is also a pitcher and outfielder on the school’s baseball team, backed up dual-threat quarterback Kade Casillas last season. Casillas was the team’s starter for three seasons and has now graduated.
“It’s the next man up,” said Kautsky, who has been playing quarterback for two years. “I’m looking forward to the season, getting out there, showing my potential. Hopefully, it’s going to be a good ride this year.”
Coach Mario Morales is entering his second season leading Lakewood after previous lengthy stops at St. Anthony, where he won a CIF-SS Division 10 title in 2016, and at Wilson, where he coached seven-time Pro Bowl selection offensive guard Joel Bitonio, who recently retired from the Cleveland Browns after 12 seasons.
Morales said he believes in Kautsky’s potential. He completed 6 of 11 attempts for 147 yards, one touchdown and one interception last season.
“The first thing is preparation,” Morales said. “The second thing is the opportunity that he understands that he has and then believing in him. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. I’ll tell you, Aidan’s done a great job being coachable. He’s like a sponge. He absorbs everything. He asks a lot of questions. The key for him again is just being prepared. We try to prepare him the best we can, but he has done some great things for us in a short amount of time.”
The Lancers finished 6-5 overall last season and 4-2 in the Moore League (third place). They lost in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
“I believe that our discipline from last year will be much better,” Lakewood senior running back Thales Nguyen said. “I expect our team to not show as many flags and to honestly be the better team on the other side of the field, in terms of losing yardage to mistakes made by a singular player.”
“Just like in life, even on the field, when you make a mistake, you have to learn from the mistake,” Morales added. “I think that’s the key and try not to make that mistake again, but more importantly, learn from that mistake.”
Lakewood will play a quality nonleague schedule with games against Corona del Mar, Paramount, Ventura, Mayfair, Torrance and Villa Park. The Lancers will begin Moore League play against Long Beach Poly at Cabrillo High on Oct. 2, followed by league games against Millikan, Wilson and Jordan.
“Our declining enrollment has been something we’ve been keeping an eye on,” Morales explained. “But at the end of the day, it’s still football. It’s 11 versus 11 and it’s about teaching these young men about doing things the right way and understanding the bigger picture. Whether it was 33 years ago when I first started or today, at the end of the day, it’s about these guys believing and working hard and understanding what a work ethic is and commitment and all the intangibles that we preach. Because again, I’m a big believer that high school football isn’t everything. It’s what you learn from it.”
Nguyen will be key player for the Lancers at running back. Senior Davian Avila will anchor the team’s offensive and defensive lines. Senior Murdoch Langdon will split time between safety and linebacker and senior Joe Joe Macias will play slot receiver and linebacker.
“I would say I play fast,” Macias said. “No matter what I’m going to do, I’m going to do it 100%.”
Ultimately, success for the Lancers will heavily rely on the team’s bevy of two-way players.
“I think everybody on our team is willing to do whatever it takes to win,” Macias said. “If we have to play two positions, kickoff, punt, we will do everything. Whatever it takes to win.”
“We define success like I said many times about who these guys end up being down the road,” Morales added. “I love when players come back and reminisce… It’s the experience they’re having right now and what they do with what they’ve learned moving forward.”