Fueled by a stellar defensive performance, the Gardena Serra Cavaliers beat the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits 20-12 Friday night to notch their second victory in a row over a tough opponent.

Practice this week has been a little off but we still maintain the mental focus for the game against El Rancho. This is the first time that Diamond Ranch will play El Rancho. Watching film, we noticed that their quarterback is one of their main threats, which made practice a lot of more getting used to the option and quarterback run.

Gardena Serra was hoping to experience the trip of a lifetime and participate in the Beehive Classic in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend. After a late change in plans and cancellations of air travel that was initially to be provided by the tournament's sponsors, the Serra and Long Beach Poly boys were left with two choices.

This off season, I set to work hard in the weight room, working on my linebacker techniques. I want to set the tone for the whole season. We didn't win but It was a good reality check in week one! Now, we are ready to reach our full potential. During week one I focused on playing through all 4 quarters at 110 miles an hour per quarter.

Since freshman year of high school I've been scouted by over 47 different schools, including some Pac-12 schools. Over the summer, my team and I worked every day non-stop to prepare for the season. I worked on building my speed, strength and agility to fly off the ball on defense and make tackles, and get off the ball and make pancakes on offense. So far, the hard work has paid off tremendously, as it has showed in week one against Chino.