The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
Millikan hosted their third annual ‘Tournament of Champions’ passing event on Saturday in what’s become one of the biggest off-season football events in Southern California. Behind Rams coach Romeo Pellum, the spring tournament has been home to some of the best competition in the state according to Calpreps rankings.
“I think it’s a good event,” said Pellum. “We shoot for the top of the top based off of the Calpreps rankings and if you look at the semifinals it’s three Trinity league schools and Corona Centennial. That’s four division one schools and it’s here playing at Millikan so it’s big and we have to continue doing a good job.”
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The event featured big returning schools such as St. John Bosco, Servite, Cen10, as well as Mater Dei who went on to be this year’s champions. The Monarchs, led by new coach and Long Beach legend Raul Lara, went undefeated on the day with wins in pool play against Upland, Narbonne, and Downey. Mater Dei also beat Downey, Upland, and Jserra in the playoff pool before defeating rivals Bosco in the championship game.
For Millikan, the tournament has been an opportunity to face some tough competition before they put pads on in the summer. The Rams put together some solid performances throughout the day with wins against San Jacinto, Chaminade, and a win in the playoffs against Mayfair. Millikan lost a close battle against Servite in the pool play and were eliminated in the playoffs by Bosco.
“It was good today, we competed,” said Pellum. “We lost to Servite by two points and had our opportunities and lost to Bosco by two touchdowns but again we had our opportunities. So I think we’re going in the right direction. I don’t think we are where we need to be but I definitely think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Senior quarterback JP Mialovski led the Rams on offense as he enters his second year at Millikan, and said it was nice to get some work in early in the Spring.
“It was just getting to work today, it was nice,” said Mialovski. “I thought all of our pool play was pretty good, we played pretty well against Mayfair in the playoffs but missed some opportunities against Bosco. It’s cool to compete against some of the top athletes in the country and we’re right there with them. We need to just keep getting better and I feel like we can be at that caliber as well.”
Mialovski spread the rock around to fellow junior Kato Keohaname in the slot alongside transfers Joshua Tuchek and Daylin Caamano. With a big class of 2024 athletes about to graduate, Mialovski and the Rams will have to adjust with plenty of new additions to the Millikan roster. Mialovski said it was nice to start building their chemistry early while playing at the tournament on Saturday.
“We got a lot of new guys so it’s really just finding that chemistry with them and I feel like we did pretty well today,” he said. “We missed a couple of opportunities today but it was just another step to getting better today.”
“It’s about us and finding our identity,” said Pellum of the new additions. “Obviously our team will look different and it’ll be different but it’s still Millikan football and we’re gonna establish the same core values and discipline and that’s with whoever’s here. For the guys that have been here or the guys that are just now getting here, the plan is gonna be the plan and the goals are gonna be the same goals.”
The Rams will look ahead to their blue and gold spring game scrimmage this Wednesday at 6:00 pm.
