The Millikan football team has finalized its football schedule, which it was able to keep more or less identical to the original Fall 2020 schedule, according to head coach Romeo Pellum.
“We only had to change one game, everyone else we were able to keep the same,” he said.
The Rams will play open up on the road against Carlsbad on Jan. 8 before visiting St. Anthony at Clark Field and then hosting La Mirada prior to the start of Moore League play. During their league bye they’ll face Santa Fe on the road.
Pellum said he’s excited for the matchup with the Saints.
“My goal is to play local games like that, there’s a lot of talent around us so we don’t have to travel,” he said. “We already have Poly, Wilson, and Lakewood, add in St. Anthony and eventually we can get Downey and Mayfair and Los Al.”
The road trip to Carlsbad will be a strong test out of the gate since they’ve been a San Diego Section power lately, coached by former Lakewood coach Thadd MacNeal.
“They’re really, really good as you’d expect,” said Pellum. “So that’s a good test to see where we are right away.”
La Mirada is another strong public school program and Pellum is hoping to have a better showing against the run this year in that game to set his team up for a stronger finish in the Moore League. The Rams had a talented team last year but finished 3-7 overall and fifth place in the league.
“We found out last year there are no cakewalks in our league,” Pellum said. “We have to show up and play every single week. Last year was a learning experience for me, learning the kids and them learning the system, us learning to trust them and them learning to trust us. We’re past that now–everyone is bought in and we’re going in the right direction.”
Pellum will have a talented team this year, perhaps the second-most talented in the league behind Poly. The Rams are headlined by the league’s top senior prospect, UCLA commit Ezavier Staples, a standout receiver.
“Ezavier comes in with a lot of momentum, and we have some other younger players with talent, in all four guys with Division 1 offers on our team,” said Pellum. “We have a good shot if we can put it all together–our line is stronger and we’re bigger up front defensively.”
The present challenge for the Rams is finding field space. Their new turf stadium is set to open in mid-October which means that all of the conditioning they’re doing right now is on the baseball field’s outfield, which is also being used by every other program on campus.
“The current situation is impossible right now, it’s really tough,” said Pellum. “A lot of people waiting to get space on that field.”
Millikan Football 2020-21 Schedule
1/8 @ Carlsbad
1/15 @ St. Anthony (Clark Field)
1/22 vs. La Mirada
1/29 @ Jordan
2/5 @ Poly
2/12 vs. Lakewood
2/19 @ Compton
2/26 @ Santa Fe
3/5 vs. Cabrillo
3/12 vs. Wilson
