October 28, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Not too many opponents of Norwalk High can handle its double wing offense or even stay close to the Lancers late in the game. Paramount High is one of those few teams that found a way to do both and come away with a victory.
The Paramount defense limited Norwalk to 14 plays on two possessions in the second half and hold the Lancers to under 10 minutes over that time in a 28-7 pivotal Mid-Cities League contest. It pushed Paramount to 8-1, 4-0 while Norwalk dropped to 7-2, 3-1 with one game remaining in the regular season.
In a way, Paramount was beating Norwalk at its own game, controlling the ball. It had drives of 5:46 in the second quarter, 5:28 in the third and held the ball for 8:32 on two fourth quarter drives. In those four droves, the Pirates ran 35 plays. In contrast, the Lancers ran 44 plays for the entire game.
“They came out and I can’t take anything away from those guys,” said Norwalk head coach Ruben Guerrero. “That’s a tough, tough football team over there. They came out, held onto the ball and took a play out of our book. They held onto the ball and put together some long drives, and my hat’s off to them.”
The Lancers began the game in typical fashion with senior running back Ezra Meuller and junior running back Diego Cerritos rushing the ball nine times for 55 yards as they helped the hosts get to the 12-yard line. But senior quarterback Nicolas Barrera recovered a fumble for a two-yard loss and after a delay of game penalty, was two yards short on his 11-yard run.
The defensive hold enabled the Pirates to open the game’s scoring. There were just four plays on the drive, but a 22-yard reception from Camer’eon Jones on the second play pushed the ball to their own 33-yard line. Following a penalty and a two-yard gain from Tyler Goodman, a personal foul infraction led to Goodman getting loose for a 45-yard touchdown run with 2:21 left in the opening quarter.
Norwalk’s next possession would be a short one but led to its lone touchdown. After Meuller and Cerritos alternated gains to end the first quarter, three running plays got the Lancers to the 11-yard line early in the second quarter. Then, senior left tackle Anthony Lemus injured his left ankle and had to leave the game. Guerrero said he was complaining of pain around that area of his body. When play resumed, Meuller gained nine yards before fumbling two yards shy of the endzone. But the ball bounced forward where Cerritos pounced on the pigskin with 10:44 left in the half.
Paramount responded with its longest drive of the game, 14 plays, 105 yards gained (there were three Paramount penalties) and it ended with a one-yard run from Jonathan Porras. The Lancers would begin their next drive at the 32-yard line, but immediately, a personal foul penalty pushed them back and later in the drive, an intentional grounding call sent the ball back to the 22-yard line and one play later, they punted.
“He’s the heart and soul of our line and when he went down, it’s hard to replace someone like Anthony Lemus on our line for what we do,” said Guerrero of Lemus. “You can see a difference when he’s in and when he’s not in.”
Paramount took advantage of the short field after a 28-yard return from Jones and needed four plays to go up 21-7 as Goodman scored from five yards out. Norwalk was still able to get 157 rushing yards in the half with Meuller picking up 114 of them. But Norwalk’s offense was stymied most of the night as the Pirates were sending nine to 10 guys up at the line, limiting the long gains Cerritos or Meuller typically get. In fact, Meuller gained over 10 yards twice in the game and Cerritos had a 13-yard gain in the first quarter.
“They were putting a lot of guys up there and it kind of took us out of our game,” said Guerrero. “We were having some tough times trying to just do what we normally do. We were wracking our brain there for a while trying to get it going.”
Any chance of the Lancers getting back in the game ended with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter as Meuller gained no yards on a fake punt attempt on fourth and four from the Norwalk 35-yard line. Paramount took advantage of that and iced the game with 7:13 left to play when Zechariah Moreno connected with Adrian Avendano for three yards. Norwalk would run five more plays before the Pirates ran out the clock.
While Meuller was able to finish with 128 yards on 24 carries and Cerritos another 39 yards on 13 rushes, all eyes were on Goodman, who slipped out of tackles all night long, gaining 161 yards on 22 carries. Porras would chip in with another 46 yards on seven touches.
“He’s an elusive back and he’s pretty quick,” said Guerrero of Goodman. “We knew he was someone we had to contain because if he were to break it to the outside, he was going to be hard to keep up with.”
The Lancers still have a shot of claiming a piece of the league title as they visit Lynwood High on Friday. A win over the Knights, coupled with a Paramount loss to Gahr High would create a three-way tie for first place. If that were to happen, a coin flip would be taken to determine the league’s number one representative. In 2022, Bellflower High, Gahr and Norwalk tied for first place with 3-1 league records.
“I believe we’ve secured a spot to play in week 11 and so, we’re going to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and we’re going to see what we need to do to fix where we’re at,” said Guerrero. “We still have two games on the books, I guess, and we’re going to get ready for those.”
