The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
The Millikan Rams (4-6) are back in the playoffs and back on the road next Friday. The Moore League’s No. 2 seed will travel to play the Saugus Centurions (8-2) at 7 p.m. in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 football playoffs.
The Rams have moved up two divisions from where they were a season ago, and check in as the No. 11 seed in the D4 bracket.
Millikan will be asked to make the roughly 50-mile trip to Santa Clarita to face Saugus, the second-place team from the Foothill League.
“My head is spinning right now, that’s far,” Pellum admitted, shortly after the brackets were released. “You’ve got to figure out the whole bus situation, pregame meal and the off-the-field stuff, but it’s an opportunity for us to go out there.”
Millikan’s draw in 2021 sent them on the road to Camarillo for a hostile road environment at the end of a lengthy bus ride. Interestingly, the Scorpions are again the 1-seed in Millikan’s bracket, but this time in Division 4.
Pellum said he didn’t know much about his opponent just yet and would need to dive into film study this week, but feels his team’s trip to Arizona during the pre-season should be good preparation for this matchup.
The Saugus football program has garnered some additional media attention during this season surrounding the team’s inclusion of a “Thin Blue Line” flag during their entrance to the field. Midway through the season, their district superintendent announced that the team would no longer be allowed to carry the flag due to numerous complaints to the school district.
However, the flag was back with the team during their most recent 31-13 win over Golden Valley last Friday. Certainly, that situation will be among the storylines as Millikan makes the drive into the Santa Clarita Valley.
“I don’t know much about (Saugus) besides that Thin Blue Line flag,” Pellum said. “So coming from Long Beach and the kids we have, we’ve just got to make sure that we prepare them for that and I prepare my coaches for that. And just know we’re gonna play against the ‘City of Saugus’ pretty much.”
We’ll have a more thorough game preview up later in the week as well as full coverage of all Long Beach football playoffs.
