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August 18, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
LA MIRADA MATADORES
3-7 overall last season, 2-3 in the Gateway League, fourth place
23-25 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Lucas Mealy (second season, 3-7)
Lost 16 seniors out of 55 players from 2023 opening day roster
Last time made the playoffs: 2021
2024 schedule
Aug. 23 @ Cypress (7-5 overall last season)
Aug. 30 Western (11-2)
Sept. 6 Tesoro (5-5)
Sept. 13 @ Long Beach Jordan (7-4)
Sept. 19 @ La Habra (7-5)
Sept. 26 BYE
Oct. 4 Downey (8-3)
Oct. 11 @ Dominguez (6-5)
Oct. 18 @ Mayfair (12-4)
Oct. 25 Bellflower (7-4)
Nov. 1 Warren (11-3)
Head coach Lucas Mealy knew what was in store for him as a first-time high school varsity head coach when he took over La Mirada High last season. With two dozen players graduating from the 2022 team, others transferring out and playing five teams who won at least 10 games in 2022, it was going to be a tall task to get to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 2021.
Mealy still had an expectation of getting to the playoffs, even though the Matadores began the season with four straight losses, being blanked in the first half in the first three games. But now that he has had a full year under his belt, and the school finally has its renovated Goodman Stadium up and running, the Matadores are looking to bounce back and have a 180 degree turnaround.
“We had a lot of really good seniors last year, especially in some key spots,” said Mealy. “We had a senior center, we had three senior safeties, we had a big time senior tight end. We had some guys who did some things really well and I did think that we could pull out some of the wins.
“We wanted to be playoff-bound,” he continued. “That’s my goal every year. Obviously, I would love to win league championships, but that’s not the focal point for me. It’s getting ourselves into the playoffs, and letting our kids show what they can do from there.”
Mealy added that the team battled in every game against a challenging schedule that included the likes of Cypress High, Servite High, Yorba Linda High and of course, the monster that is the Gateway League. But La Mirada showed progress towards the end of the season. On top of that, he was pleased with how the players responded to the adversity, which ranged from, in his words, practicing on a Tuesday in the heat to taking the bus to and from John Glenn High and going up against a tough team on a Friday night.
OFFENSE
Last season was not your typical La Mirada team as it scored 210 points, went over 21 points three times and was held to single digits twice. Mealy said the offense got better as the year progressed, scoring 116 points in the five league contests. The players had to learn a new system with the coaching change, which was the shotgun. The Matadores were running with three wide receivers, one tight end and one running back for about 99 percent of the time.
“We had a lot of things in place that were very difficult from an offensive line perspective,” said Mealy. “But the expectations are always to score more points than the opponent, and we didn’t do that in seven out of 10 games. I think this year we’ll be a lot more explosive. I think this year, there is a far better understanding of what we want to do as a staff and as a team. The coaches know exactly what I want when I’m calling a play or how I want [the players] to run a route or block a scheme. We definitely need to do better, but I also think that we will. The experience is a year greater now, and we’re going to have a lot more success, I feel, on the offensive end.”
Returning as quarterback is junior Santino Garcia, who completed 153 of 292 passes last season for 1,900 yards and tossed 14 touchdowns, but also threw 13 interceptions. Mealy says Garcia’s improvement during the offseason is night and day since last fall. With a new head coach and a new quarterback last season, Garcia had an idea of how Mealy wanted him to do things. This season, the signal caller knows the offense like the back of his hand, according to Mealy. Garcia’s backup will be sophomore Isaac Cuevas.
“There were a few times last year where he had lump sums of picks,” said Mealy. “It wasn’t like he was throwing two picks every game. He’s definitely improved; we’ve tweaked the system a little bit to meet his needs. We’re still going to run up tempo, no huddle. We’ll still do a lot of [run, pass, option], which is what we did [last season]. We’re giving him the ability to take some vertical shots. I also think we’re going to have a far better running game.”
There’s evidence to prove that Mealy’s prediction of the running game being ‘far better’ is true.
Although junior Jordan Lauago (55 carries, 254 yards, one touchdown, 25 receptions, 500 yards, five touchdowns) leads all returners in ground yardage, he is being moved to more of a slot role. According to Mealy, he’ll be used like Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers, getting the ball in the middle of the field, in the screens, on the edge and get carries in the backfield.
“He’s a guy that we have to get the ball in his hands,” said Mealy. “He’s explosive, he’s dynamic; he’s just got a great feel for the game. He’s going to be more of a slot receiver for us and definitely will get carries. But we want to get him in space as much as possible and allow him to utilize his talent and his skill for the game.”
Seniors Madden Carino, who carried the pigskin a dozen times for 25 yards, is expected to get a lot of carries, and Nicholas Plascencia are the top running backs while senior transfers Drew Cobos (La Serna High) and Tuiono Tuifua (John Glenn High) will give the Matadores more depth in the backfield. Tuifua gained 1,425 yards and scored 14 touchdowns for the Eagles last season.
As good as the running game will be for the Matadores, equal attention must be given to the wide receiver corps, led by seniors wide receivers Max Rankin (20 receptions, 212 yards, three touchdowns) and Isaiah Robbins (32 receptions, 510 yards, four touchdowns), juniors wide receiver Aaron Castro (26 receptions, 254 yards, one touchdown) and Josiah Fregoso plus Cobos and Lauago. Sophomore Matthew Solorio will be the tight end, and the coaching staff has high expectations for him.
“Our receiving corps…we have studs in my opinion,” said Mealy. “Now, we don’t have a lot of size; you’ll get Jordan, who is a slot receiver and is as good as it gets, good as advertised. He’ll probably be better than advertised. There are a lot of people who are going to doubt him because of his size.
“We don’t have the biggest wide receiver group,” he continued. “But they have a great feel for it. They have speed; they understand what we’re trying to do as far as the concepts go.”
Senior Ryan Molina will be the left tackle, junior Genisis Afu will be the left guard, junior Noah Marquez will be the center while senior Mark Galindo moves from center to right guard and senior Adrian Otero will be the right tackle. Heading into the offseason, it was to be senior Elan Gomez, who played every snap last season. But he blew out his knee on the second day of spring ball.
DEFENSE
La Mirada’s defense was not the best Matadores Nation has seen recently, allowing 316 points with seven opponents scoring over 25 points. But just like the offense, the defense figures to be better in 2024.
Senior Charlie Dowlin is the top returner on the defensive lineman and is the anchor up front, according to Mealy. The rest of the line is young-sophomores Amir McCalope and Patrick Stein, and freshman Christian Prado-but are up to the challenge and ready to go. Also getting some playing time on the line will be junior Isaiah Gonzalez.
“We’re not going to be the biggest D-line, but I like what we have up front between the future that we’re going to have with them and the seniors that we have down there,” said Mealy.
In the secondary, the top cornerback, who is being heavily recruited by several colleges and already has an offer, will be Rankin. Junior J.J. Galvan seems to have the inside position for the second cornerback spot while Lauago, who is in the mix at cornerback, is also vying for one of the safety positions. Competing for the safety spot will also be senior Joshua Gonzalez and juniors Julian Alvarez, Emiliano Ramirez and Levi Reyes. Mealy considers the safety spot the unknown spot as La Mirada graduated it’s three safeties.
Mealy believes the strength of the defense will be the linebackers, led by seniors Spencer Ammons and Gavin Dionne in the middle while sophomore Jacob Zatarian will get some reps with them. Mealy says the best thing for Zatarian is having Ammons and Dionne there to teach him for the next two seasons once they graduate.
“I think it’s a three-layered thing,” said Mealy of the defense. “I think Max in the back end, Gavin in the middle and then Charlie up front…and I also think Spencer; he’s quiet but I definitely think those seniors are going to lead us on the defensive end. We have to score points; there’s no doubt about it. I think we will, but we also have to get stops. I think those guys are really going to tell us a lot of what are fate holds.”
SCHEDULE
La Mirada’s schedule is once again not for the faint of heart as all 10 opponents had at least a .500 record with Mayfair High claiming the Division 7 title and Warren High losing in the Division 3 championship game while Western High advanced to the semifinals. La Mirada was blanked by Cypress in Mealy’s debut, but it was scoreless after the first quarter and 14-0 at the half and only Tesoro High did not advance to the postseason. The meeting with Western will be the first regular season on the new field turf surface at Goodman Stadium.
The Matadores have not faced La Habra High and Tesoro since 2014, defeating both by 45-28 26-23 decisions.
“Cypress is going to be well-coached,” said Mealy. “They have some guys; they did lose some seniors last year, but Cypress does a great job of reloading. Going over there [for] the first game of the year I think is good for our boys to be on the road and get that road travel out [of the way] early. Western is an incredibly good team. They have athletes galore and have some guys up front. We saw them in a couple of seven on seven’s.
“But ultimately for me, when we were talking about our schedule, I wanted games that could go either way,” he continued. “I think those first two games are going to be incredibly tough. They’re in the same league; they battle each other year in and year out.”
Following the bye week, La Mirada hosts a Downey High team that put up 51 points against the blue and gold in the final game of last season. Then comes two straight road games, the first against Dominguez High, whom the Matadores defeated 21-14 with all their points coming in the fourth quarter. The following week is against longtime nemesis from the old Suburban League, Mayfair. The Matadores have lost seven straight to the Monsoons after winning seven of the previous eight meetings.
“Once again, we’re looking at getting to the playoffs,” said Mealy. “We know Downey and Warren are Downey and Warren. Those guys are loaded, and Mayfair is coming off a CIF [championship]. Coach [Derek] Bedell over there does a great job. Dominguez is incredibly athletic and I know the coach over there is doing a really good job getting those guys coached up. And Bellflower is a team that’s no rest for the weary. They’re going to go out there and give you everything they have.”
HOMECOMING
Last season, La Mirada drew Mayfair as its homecoming opponent and fell 35-21. The Monsoons led 14-7 at the half and pulled away in the third quarter with a two-touchdown performance. This season, the Matadores will host Downey on the festive night, hoping to avenge a 51-34 defeat in which the Vikings led 41-21 at the half. La Mirada has lost four straight games to Downey since 2018 with the closest decision coming in 2019, a 12-7 loss in the first round of the Division 4 playoffs. It was the second straight season the teams had met in the first round of the playoffs.
FINAL COMMENT
“I think it’s going to be night and day from what we had last year,” said Mealy. “I think we have a lot of players who understand from a scheme standpoint, whether it’s offense, defense or even special teams, what we want to do and how we want to do it. We’re conditioning in a brand new weightroom and we’ve had some really good growth from there. The expectation is to win games, now and I think with the stadium, the kids appreciate it.”
