The562’s coverage of football in 2024-25 is sponsored by The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase.
Millikan’s matchup with Upland got moved to DeHaven Stadium due to the wildfires in Southern California, and football fans in the city on Friday night were treated to a heavy dose of Millikan’s ground game.
The one-two running back punch of Xavier Jones’ speed and Anthony League’s strength was on full tilt Friday night against visiting Upland, as the two combined for 291 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Millikan’s 37-27 win.
“It feels great, it always feels good to outdo Jones because we’re always going back and forth,” said League, who had a game high 158 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns. “Going over 300 yards as a team—that’s the stuff we look forward to putting up. But we gotta give thanks to the O-Line because without them, neither of us would have any of those yards.”
“Every time he goes out there I tell him to ball out and every time I go out there he tells me to ball out. We both gonna eat,” added Jones, who had 133 yards on nine carries with a pair of TDs. “He’s good and I know I’m good so we just try and make the team better.”
Millikan has progressively leaned on their run game more each week, and did so immediately after electing to receive the opening kickoff. They held the ball for the first 5:30 of game time and converted two fourth downs on their opening drive before League plunged in for a three-yard score.
The Rams held the ball for a total of 17:36 in the first half, which head coach Romeo Pellum said was part of the plan to control the clock.
“We wanted to control the game and control the clock, that’s why we wanted the ball first,” he said. “And I think we did that. Our guys did a great job on both sides of the ball.”
“[That is what we were trying to do] our whole game,” added League. “As long as we keep it out of our hands and keep it in ours, and we can run the ball past them then we were gonna win that game tonight.”
Despite not having the ball often in the first half, Upland took advantage of their opportunities when they came. The Highlanders responded on their opening drive with a 46-yard QB keeper by Lequand Jackson, and responded to a Millikan field goal with a 67-yard touchdown from Jackson to Justin Benson. Millikan added a touchdown from League before the half, while Upland added a field goal as the Rams went into the break up 23-20.
Millikan certainly made a statement on defense coming out of the second half, allowing just one score for the rest of the game. They allowed a nine-yard TD rush from Jackson on Upland’s opening drive of the second half before holding Upland scoreless for the remaining 19:57 of the game.
“I liked them flying around today and it started in practice,” Pellum said about his defense. “We had a way better week of practice this week. The kids were prepared and the coaches did a great job. Both coordinators and all the coaches did a hell of a job this week and it showed today.”
The Rams proceeded to score 14 unanswered points thanks to a seven-yard touchdown rush from QB JP Mialovski and another from 13 yards out by Jones. The Millikan run game averaged eight yards per carry as a whole and went over 300 total rushing yards.
“People are going to have to game plan for it. You’ll have a game plan for us running the ball. I think we have the best O-Line in Southern California when you talk about public schools. When you have that, the ability to run the ball, now defenses have to choose. If they want to load the box we still have receivers that can win too and a QB that can deliver the ball. When our offense is clicking it’s pretty dynamic.”
The Rams came into the game as six-point underdogs according to Calipreps, and ranked 71 spots below Upland according to Maxpreps. Millikan finished last season a division below Upland, and took a loss to the Highlanders this time a season ago.
“It was huge [to get that win back], I don’t take nothing away from my kids,” Pellum said. “Upland does a great job and coach [Darryl] Thomas is a great coach. That’s huge for us. That’s a division two program. It’s good and it’s bad, we’re definitely going to jump [in the rankings] tonight.”
Millikan will open up their Moore League schedule at Cabrillo next week at 7 pm.
