The Gardena Serra Cavaliers host the Santa Monica Vikings Friday night in a Southern Section quarterfinal matchup from the Western division. Both teams enter the contest on a roll, having dominated their first round opponents.
Santa Monica is led by standout receiver and USC commit Sebastian Larue, but the Vikings also possess an effective run game that should present a challenge to the stout Serra defense.
The Cavaliers defense is spearheaded by junior playmakers, defensive back Adoree’ Jackson and linebacker Dwight Williams. CLA had a chance to catch up with Adoree’ and Dwight as they prepare to lead Serra to the semifinals.
“Our game plan is basically just to stay focused and stay humble. They’re just like us. They (Santa Monica) have athletes on both sides of the ball. Those two losses didn’t‘ say anything about us. We beat ourselves those games. It‘s not like somebody blew us out. I don‘t think teams take us lightly,“ said Jackson.
Williams shares his teammate‘s sentiment.
“Our starting D, we haven’t really given up anything. The game plan is really to just go out there and not lose our cool. Stay grounded, don’t overlook this team and play hard-nosed football. I don‘t know if they are gonna take us lightly, but if they do they‘re going to be in for it” said Williams.
After losing stud running back Taz Bateman to a season-ending injury, Adoree’ has played a more notable role on offense.
“It feels nice to be able to contribute on both sides of the ball. I’m just doing what I can to get our team the win. I don’t like seeing our team lose and I don’t like losing myself. So I try to do my best. When I get the ball, just do anything I can to help the team win. Put the team on my back and take it from there. Get everybody involved and we all start playing well. It all works out when we’re playing well on both sides of the ball,” said Jackson.
As a 5-star recruit, Jackson has many big time programs clamoring for his services.
“It feels really good for me, coming from (you know where I come from) Illinois, and not being on the radar that much for football. I didn’t really get known until the end of the summer at the Nike Camp. It’s a great gift that God gave me,” said Jackson.
“It’s crazy how everything happened. I wasn’t even going to go to the camp. The day before the camp somebody told me to go. I went up there and it was a good experience. It taught me a lot.”
As for Williams, the hard hitting linebacker is drawing serious interest from several major programs. Currently rated a 4-star recruit, expect Williams to continue to improve and raise his status.
“It’s all about competition. I want to be the best guy. Getting the 4-star is going to make me work even harder and take it to another level. Step up even more,” said Williams.
On any potential future visits, Dwight has some things in mind.
“I’m going to open up a little bit more. Most of my trips taken to other schools outside of the state, that’s going to happen over the summer. I’m going to get down to a few camps. I’ll probably go to Alabama’s camp and I’ll probably go to Notre Dame’s camp if I can get out to that one, “ said Williams.
CLA will be on the sidelines to document the hard hitting action and get post-game reactions from the stars of the game.
