The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
Once again, the Millikan Rams have put together a compelling schedule for the upcoming high school football season. Romeo Pellum’s squad has a challenging slate of non-league games this fall, facing off against four playoff teams who posted a combined record of 36-12 a season ago.
After making an out-of-state trip for two years in a row (to Arizona and then Hawaii), the Rams are keeping it more local in 2024 as Pellum turned his focus to the surrounding area.
“When we created the non-league schedule, we wanted to try to play as many local games as possible,” Pellum explained. “I don’t want to just win league, I want to win the area. So I want to play the Mayfairs, and play St. Anthony. I want to play Downey, I want to play Warren, I want to play Los Alamitos. I want to play those schools. And just the way that it turned out, the only team that we’re playing is Downey because that’s the only team that agreed to play us.”
The season will start with a road trip to Newbury Park, finalists in the CIF-SS Division 5 title game last season. Pellum expects the Panthers to be even better next season, led by four-star quarterback recruit Brady Smigiel.
“Newbury Park is a good game, they have the No. 1 quarterback in the country in the 2026 class,” Pellum said of the season-opening matchup. “I think they’ll be closer to a Division 3 team at the start of the season, which is good for us.”
Millikan’s home opener will be on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Carson, in a rematch of Pellum’s first game as Millikan head coach. The Rams won that meeting against the Colts, 29-28, back in 2019, thanks to a thrilling game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds. Last season, Carson went 10-2 and reached the Open Division semifinals in the LA City Section playoffs.
The Rams stay at home for their third game of the season, hosting the Downey Vikings who were 8-3 last season and second place in the Gateway League. As a Division 4 playoff team, they project to be a good opponent for Millikan who got bumped up to Division 3 last season.
Finally, Millikan ends its non-league with a trip to Upland on Sep. 13 where they’ll surely have revenge on the mind. The Highlanders won 28-16 last season against Millikan and ended up in the D2 playoffs.
This year’s Moore League opener will be at Cabrillo, followed by another road game against Wilson. That sets up the defining three-game stretch of the regular season against the other three playoff teams from the Moore League.
First, the Rams will host Jordan on Oct. 4 before a massive showdown with Long Beach Poly at DeHaven Stadium up Oct. 11. Millikan took the Jackrabbits to overtime last season at Vets, and the Moore League title could very well be on the line that night.
Millikan’s final road game will be at Lakewood for a rivalry showdown with the Lancers on Oct. 18, then Senior Night against Compton to close out the regular season on Oct. 25.
Complete Millikan Rams 2024 Football Schedule
8/23 at Newbury Park
8/29 vs. Carson (Thursday)
9/6 vs. Downey
9/13 at Upland
9/20 at Cabrillo
9/27 at Wilson
10/4 vs. Jordan
10/11 vs. Long Beach Poly
10/18 at Lakewood
10/25 vs. Compton
