After falling short to Huntington Beach High School last Friday, our Monsoons were ready to bounce back against one of their biggest rivals, the Bellflower Buccaneers. I showed up to Ron Yary Stadium at 6:45, where the Monsoons would play their first home game of the season. As soon as I sat down, I could feel the crowd’s excitement as their team was about to take the field. The clock struck 7:00 p.m., and the game started.
The Monsoons were first on defense, while the Bucs had the ball. After just a minute and a half on the third play, Mayfair intercepted the first pass of the game. The crowd was ecstatic! The Monsoons would have 43 yards to go to score first. They got to work after a 22 yard quarterback run and a 21 yard rushing touchdown, making the score 7-0 in just 30 seconds.
Bellflower came back after a 9-minute long drive that ended in a 64 yard touchdown on a clutch fourth down conversion. They also had a successful 2 point conversion, taking the lead 8-7. Mayfair would get the ball back and the first quarter would end shortly after. After a couple Mayfair plays, the Monsoons would fumble the ball, giving possession right back to the Bucs. Bellflower would not be able to convert anything though, as they had to punt it back to Mayfair.
Mayfair set up with a 96 yard drive with around 10 minutes left in the half. They would have 4 big gains this drive with them being 28, 22, 18, and 16 yard passes. They eventually had a 16 yard rushing touchdown to make the score 14-8 just 3 minutes before halftime. Mayfair would kick the ball back to Bellflower where they would have to start from their own 23 yard line, needing to go 77 yards. After a penalty, they got called back ten yards. Shortly after this setback, the Monsoons would force a fumble and recover it. The stands were rumbling as this happened right before half time! The Mayfair drive started off with an 8 yard sack. They would now need to travel 21 yards in a minute and a half. After coming close to a touchdown with a 20 yard pass, Mayfair’s running back easily scored the 1 yard touchdown, making the score 20-8. Halftime would come shortly after.
The Monsoons would receive the kickoff to begin the third quarter, starting at their own 29 yard line. Mayfair would start off the drive with a 12 yard rush followed by an amazing 1 handed catch. After this, Bellflower’s defense put pressure on the Monsoons twice after forcing two 4th downs. The Mayfair offense converted on both of these though, with one of them being a 33 yard rush and the other one being a 24 yard passing touchdown. Mayfair would extend their lead to 27-8 after just a couple of minutes in the second half. Bellflower would get the ball and drive it down field, but the third quarter would end before their drive was over.
Bellflower would come 4 yards away from scoring a touchdown starting off the 4th quarter, but Mayfair's defense held them to a field goal, or so they thought. Bellflower had other things in mind though, as they tried to fake the field goal; Mayfair's defense stopped them once again! Mayfair got the ball back, but at their own 3 yard line. After many small rushes and passes, Mayfair came through with a 25 yard rush and a 28 yard passing touchdown, capping off a 97-yard drive and making the score 34-8 with 9 minutes remaining in the game. The student section was very excited for their team as they just kept on extending their lead over their rivals.
Bellflower’s efforts would just be for pride at that point, but despite the score, they would have a 20 yard pass, 38 yard rush, and to top it off a 4 yard rushing touchdown. Making the score 34-16 after a successful 2 point conversion with 5 minutes remaining in the game. Bellflower would try an onside kick to try and get the ball again, but it would be unsuccessful. The Monsoons would later start at their own 46 yard line.
After many minimal rushes and passes, Mayfair would face yet another 4th down. They would convert once again, setting them up for a 30 yard rushing touchdown. Making the score 41-16 with just over a minute remaining in the game. Bellflower would receive the ball again and would have just a few more plays; one being a 32 yard quarterback carry. Thus would not be enough to get into the field goal range. The game would end with a final score of 41-16 Mayfair.
As the clock struck zero, the excitement of the players and coaches was shown as they just received their first win of the 2023 season-- improving their record to 1-1. If Mayfair could keep the play they had in this game up, they can get many wins this season against many other schools.
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