The Los Angeles Romans football team overwhelmed the West Adams Panthers 68-0 on Friday. This was the homecoming game for the Romans and their second consecutive win.
“It’s homecoming, that’s a must-win,” said senior Letroy Pruitt Jr. “The whole school staff and administrators just cheering you on, it feels really good, it’s a true blessing.”
Junior Malike Simpson executed three rushes for 84 yards, resulting in three touchdowns. He also secured one fumble recovery into a touchdown. Simpson attributed the blocking skills of his teammates to his success during the matchup.
“The [offensive] line made that play, I just ran,” he said. “They made it all happen for me.”
Quarterback Matt Lara completed all three of his passes for 120 yards to score two touchdowns.
“His leadership is everything,” Simpson said about Lara. “We fed into his energy and we play as he goes.”
His main target was senior Justin Hong who made two catches for 72 yards and scored one touchdown. The defense forced fumbles and recovered the ball and the specialists worked to get Los Angeles possessions with their punts. By Halftime, Los Angeles was up by 53 points.
“In the first half, the teammates, we got the confidence that we had that we’ve been trying to build up these past few weeks,” Pruitt Jr said. “We all knew our assignments, we just got it done and did what we had to do this win.”
Sophomore Brian Elvira made 10 tackles to keep the Panthers’ possessions short. West Adams’ possessions frequently ended with fumbles.
“On defense, we got off the ball a little more faster than the other team did,” Pruitt jr said. “That way we would force fumbles and the fumble recoveries, that was another major key of this game.”
At halftime, Roman’s head coach Anthony Jackson told his team to practice humility.
“During halftime, the speech was just to stay humble and keep playing the game,” Simpson said. “The game ain’t over, we still got another two quarters.”
During the second half, freshman Raul Guzman progressed the ball with his rushes, ultimately scoring a touchdown. His efforts garnered cheers and excitement from his teammates.
“During practice, he has his rough days, he be feeling down about himself, “Pruitt jr said. “We just always try to encourage him every day.”
Despite having a 2-6 overall record, the Los Angeles Romans are 2-1 in Southern League. This puts them in second place in the league. West Adams falls to a 0-2 overall record.
West Adams will travel to battle Hollywood and Romans will travel to battle Roybal on Friday at 7:00pm.
