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Inglewood football beats Los Alamitos to avenge loss in 2025 opener

August 22, 2026

LOS ALAMITOS — Even without one of the top senior defensive linemen in the state, the Inglewood football team still had the luxury of lining up a premier Division I talent in the middle of its defense on Friday night.

Los Alamitos, with two quarterbacks sharing snaps, got little going offensively and was consistently knocked back in the Week 0 season opener for both teams.

Inglewood recorded 10 tackles for loss, including seven sacks, and rolled to a 20-7 nonleague victory. It avenged a loss to Los Al in last year’s opener.

Sentinels coach Mil’Von James, who is three wins shy of 100 career coaching victories at the school, credited Texas A&M-bound defensive tackle Myels Smith for getting pressure from the outset.

“Myels Smith set the tone early,” James said. “A player of his caliber, when he’s on the field he’s a nightmare.”

Smith had a first-quarter quarterback hurry to force an incompletion and a second-quarter TFL, but he also commanded enough attention for his teammates to make plays throughout the contest.

Inglewood (1-0) got three sacks from defensive end Darion Long. His final two sacks came on the last two plays of the game.

“We played amazing, we’ve just got to fix a couple more details on defense,” Long said.

The Sentinels won despite the absence of Oklahoma-bound defensive tackle Elija Harmon, who said before the game he’s hoping to make his season debut in Week 4. Harmon, who missed last season with a torn meniscus, said he’s recovering from an additional surgery.

Los Al (0-1) struggled to get into a rhythm behind quarterbacks Zachariah Correa and Elijah McDaniel. Correa started the game, but the two players alternated most of the team’s 11 offensive drives.

Griffins coach Rory Schoonmaker said the opposing pass rush had a lot to do with the issues. Los Al managed just 28 yards of total offense over its five first-half drives.

“We had a little bit of confusion about how we were operating the system,” Schoonmaker said. “That didn’t just happen at quarterback, it happened all over the place.

“Give a ton of credit to (Inglewood). They came out, played a phenomenal game. They’ve got a ton of talent and they used it properly.”

Inglewood got out to a 12-0 halftime lead behind a pair of rushing touchdowns from running backs Semaj Welch and Marlon Watson. For the game, the duo combined for 145 yards rushing.

Quarterback Lincoln Jahn extended the lead to 20-0 on a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Crawford on Inglewood’s first possession of the second half.

Jahn, though, threw a pair of interceptions that were both picked off by Los Al defensive back Leo Swietlikowski.

The second interception with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter was returned to the Sentinels’ 14-yard line and set up the Griffins’ lone scoring drive.

“(Swietlikowski) was a guy who stood out on film last year as a starter on both sides of the ball,” Schoonmaker said. “Outstanding athlete. He’s a guy you maybe wouldn’t assume is, but he keeps showing up in the stat books, man.”

Correa, who had better success in the second half, found receiver Caeson Miller on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:46 left.

The game then went into an injury delay for more than 20 minutes.

On the ensuing kickoff, an onside attempt, Inglewood receiver Tyler Martin was hurt on the play. After remaining on the ground for several minutes, his neck was put in a brace and an ambulance was called onto the field as he was put on a stretcher.

James said Martin was able to move his extremities while being checked on by medical personnel.

“He was definitely in stable condition,” James said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the young man. He’ll be right.”

For Inglewood, it was the first of three consecutive road games to open the season. The next two will be out of state, with games in Texas and Arizona.

The Sentinels will travel to Austin to face Westlake High next Friday.

“It’s an experience,” James said. “A lot of our kids have never left the state. Their aspirations are always to play beyond high school, so if you want to be seen by bigger schools and be a national recruit you have to take the trip.”

Orange County Register

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Inglewood football beats Los Alamitos to avenge loss in 2025 opener

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