MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Lawndale (Calif.) Cardinals have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Cardinals ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating San Joaquin Memorial 20-12 in the
CIF State Football Division 2-A Championship Bowl on Saturday, December 15 marked the completion of an incredible 14-2 season — and earned Lawndale an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
Jordan Wilmore provided Lawndale with a powerful running game and the always punishing Cardinal defense was up to the challenge late, allowing Travis Clark's club to win their first CIF Southern Section championship since 1966 and Lawndale's first state championship at Cerritos College in Norwalk. Clinging to the eight-point advantage with less than a minute left, the Cardinal defense stepped up and stopped San Joaquin Memorial on fourth-and-goal from the four when Panther quarterback Alec Trujillo threw incomplete.
Then, the Cardinals had to do it all over again when the officials threw a flag and moved the ball to the two. This time the Lawndale defense swarmed Trujillo, who called his own number, and the Cardinals ran out the clock. Lawndale jumped out to a 12-0 advantage on 11 and 15-yard runs by Wilmore. A safety, following a high snap on a San Joaquin Memorial punt, and Lawndale quarterback Jalon Daniels' 16-yard run rounded out Cardinal scoring.
Daniels completed eight of 15 passes for 112 yards and ran for 79 yards and a score, while Wilmore led the Cardinal ground game with 208 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Makell Esteen caught three balls for 63 yards. Keenan Fyles led the Lawndale defense with 11 tackles and Naki Fahina made eight stops. Esteen, Fyles, Mark Blocker and Fahina all made two tackles for negative yardage. Esteen and Josh Barbarin picked off a pass each, while Fahina caused a fumble and Jakai Johnson recovered one. Lawndale opened postseason play with a 35-0 blanking of Dos Pueblos before upending Antelope Valley 38-0. Then, following a 20-7 win over St. Paul, the Cardinals kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 34-20 CIF Southern Section Division 5 championship win over Palos Verde. Lawndale bumped South Hills from state championship contention with a 42-14 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with San Joaquin Memorial.
The Cardinals opened the season with a 25-22 win over Sierra Canyon. Then, following a 41-20 loss to Calabasas, Lawndale upended Leuzinger 66-6 to start the season 2-1. The Cardinals dropped one more contest in 2018 and outscored their competition 546-202. Lawndale posted three shutouts on the year and held 12 foes to 14 points or less, while scoring a season-high 66 points in the win over Leuzinger.
Having won 11 straight contests to end the year, the Cardinals set themselves up for some pretty high rankings come season's end. Not only is Lawndale the top-ranked club in
MaxPreps' Southern Section Division 5 Rankings, the Cardinals are the 16th best squad in the entire
Southern Section. Lawndale is ranked No. 24 in
California and played its way to the 156th spot in
MaxPreps' National Rankings!
These incredible season achievements have earned the Lawndale Cardinals an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us at the football field for a pep rally as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, February 8 at 1:50 p.m.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.