LONG BEACH — Millikan football coach Romeo Pellum had a singular focus before Friday’s game against St. Francis.
“Win,” Pellum said. “Take it one play at a time and come out with a W at the end of the day.”
The Rams achieved Pellum’s goal, defeating St. Francis 54-28 at Millikan High School.
Myles Jackson had a massive game for Millikan (2-1), completing 20 of 32 passes for 454 yards, three touchdown passes and a touchdown run. Jordan Anderson caught six passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The Millikan defense tallied nine sacks including three from Ethaniah Steffany and two from Craig Gordon.
John Calmette led the St. Francis offense, rushing for 96 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Jack Jacobs completed 13 of 25 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once. Jett Mccullough caught 64 yards and a touchdown. Preston Jernegan had two sacks.
St. Francis (1-2) kept pace with Millikan early.
After a 29-yard field goal from Jayden Icasiano gave the Rams a 3-0 lead on their first possession, Millikan scored again on its second drive. Jackson found Ryan Pellum, the brother of the team’s head coach, up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown catch and run and a 10-0 Millikan lead after the extra point.
St. Francis reached the Millikan red zone for the first time in the second quarter. A 40-yard pass from Jacobs to Antonio Merlos brought St. Francis to the Millikan 3. John Calmette punched the ball into the end zone on the next play for St. Francis, cutting the lead to 10-8 after a successful 2-point conversion.
Less than a minute later, Millikan’s Nygel Osborne broke a tackle on first-and-10 and ran 60 yards for a Millikan touchdown. That extended the Rams’ lead to 17-8 with 10:09 left in the quarter.
Millikan scored again on its next possession thanks to a Ryan Pellum 1-yard run for a 24-8 Millikan lead.
St. Francis cut Millikan’s lead with 4:42 left in the second half relying heavily on Calmette. St. Francis drove 80 yards, scoring on a 2-yard Calmette run and another successful conversion to bring the score to 24-16.
Millikan scored 24 unanswered points on a touchdown run from Jackson, two Jackson-to-Anderson touchdown passes and a field goal from Icasiano to go into halftime leading 48-16.
Millikan’s first possession out of halftime yielded more points, this time a 20-yard field goal by Icasiano extending the lead to 51-16 Millikan.
Clint Geryak had an opportunity to use his leg for St. Francis in the third quarter, converting a 32-yard field goal for a score of 51-19.
St. Francis notched two more points off a Millikan safety, before Jacobs connected with Jett Mccullough for a 53-yard touchdown pass, bringing the final score to 54-28 Millikan.