On September 15, La Mirada Varsity Football obtained their first win against Baldwin park 42-7. Quarterback Santino Garica stated that a key part of winning this game was getting the offense going early with the run game. Slot receiver Martin Aguilera, filled in as Running Back for Jordan Lauago, who injured his elbow in the game the week prior. Stepping up, Aguilera rushed the ball 28 times for a total of 189 yards on top of three touchdowns. Sophomore Wide Receiver Aaron Castro explained with the win against Baldwin Park, the team morale took a positive turn and gave the young La Mirada team some confidence going into their first league match up against Compton Dominguez. La Mirada’s first year Head Coach Lucas Mealy added, “This win was just a product of the tough week of practice the team put together.” He continued, “if this team continues to work as hard as they have, then the wins will start rolling in more than people expect.”

After a bye week, the Matadores returned to the field to play at Norwalk High School versus Compton Dominguez. In a twist of events, Mealy’s girlfriend went into labor the morning of the game on September 29 and his son Landon was born at 5:15pm. Mealy completed some paperwork at the hospital and made it in time for the game thirty minutes before kickoff. The Matadores were down 7-0 at halftime to the Dons. La Mirada tied it up 7-7 with eight minutes to play. Dominguez responded with a touchdown and the Matadores answered back with a score of 14-14 with four minutes to go. With 29 seconds in the game, Martin Aguilera scored the winning touchdown with a final score of 21-14 in the first Gateway League win for the season.