BY STEPHEN LYNCH
There was nothing deceptive about West High’s offensive approach against South High on Friday night.
That didn’t make things any easier for the Rebels defense.
The Vikings used a potent straight-ahead rushing attack, spearheaded by LJ Laulu., to wear out and take down visiting South.
Laulu carried the ball 16 times for 93 yards and three touchdowns as West closed out the non-league part of its schedule with an impressive 29-14 win over the Rebels in front of a large homecoming crowd.
The 5-foot-10, 240-pound Laulu was especially effective utilizing his bruising running style in the second half, powering his way through South’s defense for 78 yards on 12 carries after intermission.
“I’m a big person,” Laulu said. “There’s nothing fancy about (my running style). I just do what the coaches say.”
After the Rebels rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie things on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Manuel Guzman to Angel Alfered with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter, Laulu went into full punisher mode.
The senior fullback scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion during the final 13:06 to carry West (2-3) to the victory.
“He’s a three-year varsity guy,” West coach Derrick Dunham said. “A 1,000-yard rusher back his sophomore year. His season got cut short last year because of a knee injury. You can’t measure his heart. So, we just keep giving him the ball. We trust our line of scrimmage. Our coaches. I’m just really proud of the whole team tonight.”
Led by Laulu and Damion Brown, who ran 11 times for 111 yards, the Vikings offensive played keep away with ball for most of the game.
West’s, which ran the ball 45 times while attempting only three passes, finished with a time of possession of 30 minutes and 13 seconds. South possessed the ball for just 17 minutes and 47 seconds.
“That’s what our identity is,” Dunham said of his team’s ball control offense. “We kind of got away from it the last couple of weeks. But we pay homage to all the West High teams back in the 70’s and 80’s running the football. I’m a product of that and that’s what we want to do here. We found a way to win tonight by grinding it out.”
The Vikings led 7-0 after a first half that featured a lot sloppy play on offense by both teams.
West started off strong. The Vikings first possession of the game was a 6-play, 72-yard drive, that Laulu capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run.
South (3-2) moved the ball well at times in the opening half, but continually made costly mistakes that derailed its scoring opportunities.
The Rebels offense finally got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter.
Just over a minute after West quarterback Daylon Leach faked a handoff up the middle to Laulu and then connected with Khaiden Dearmore for a 4-yard touchdown pass, extending the Vikings lead to 14-0, the Rebels found paydirt for the first time.
Following runs of 21 and 16 yards by King Ellis, Darrell Brown broke away for a 26-yard touchdown jaunt.
The Rebels followed that up by recovering an onside kick. Five plays later, Guzman deftly avoided a heavy pass rush and found Alfered wide open in the middle of the end zone.
Tied 14-14, the Rebels tried an onside kick again, but West recovered the ball and quickly turned a short field into a 10-yard touchdown run by Laulu. The jumbo sized back ran through several tackles on his way to the goal line.
The Vikings missed the ensuing PAT attempt. However, South was called for a personal foul on the play, leading Dunham to go for two, which Laulu converted with another powerful run.
Laulu added a 14-yard scoring burst with 2:20 left in the game, sealing West’s third straight win against the Rebels.
The Vikings are 11-8 versus South since 2001.
“We just made some big mistakes, penalties, things of that nature at the wrong times and that cost us,” South coach Cary Mills said. “We’re kind of a young team. A bunch of new guys, playing varsity football…Overall, I’m happy with our effort. We just have to clean up our mistakes.”
West 29, South 14
South 0 0 14 0-14
West 7 0 15 7-29
First quarter
W-Laulu 1 run (D. Zuniga kick)
Third quarter
W-Dearmore 4 pass from Leach (D. Zuniga kick)
S-Brown 26 run (Bravo kick)
S-Alfered 33 pass from Guzman (Bravo kick)
W-Laulu 10 run (Laulu run)
Fourth quarter
W-Laulu 14 run (D. Zuniga kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING- South: Lomax 14-94, Ellis 10-53, Brown 1-26, #49 1-3, Guzman 5-(-26); West: Brown 11-111, Laulu 16-93, Leach 11-50, J. Zuniga 4-42, Hernandez 1-10, Dearmore 3-8, D. Zuniga 1-(-3), Team 2-(-24).
PASSING-South: Guzman 7-20-1-79, Ellis 2-2-0-13; West D. Zuniga 1-2-0-8; Leach 1-1-0-4.
RECEIVING-Alfered 3-48, Lomax 1-17, Brown 2-13, Castro 2-8, Wilson 1-6; West: Dearmore 2-12.
Photos by David Dennis
