Norwalk finds a way past Bellflower and moves into first place

There’s really no secret to Norwalk’s double-wing offense.

The defense knows that one of four players is going to run the football: The quarterback, the left wing, the right wing or the fullback.

In the first half of Friday night’s crucial Mid Cities League game between the Lancers and Bellflower, the Buccaneers had those lanes plugged up, so Norwalk coach Ruben Guerrero said he made a halftime adjustment, but it was nothing special.

“We were trying to run one way and they wouldn’t let us,” he said with a smile. “So we ran the other way and found the sweet spot where we were going to be successful.”

Running “the other way” resulted in a 14-point third quarter which led to a 14-12 victory for Norwalk, moving it into first place in league play.

“We needed a spark and Michael [Mueller] gave it to us and the big fella Anthony [Martinez] gave it to us,” Guerrero said. “Our defense bailed us out today. They played very hard and very tough.”

The first spark for Norwalk (8-0, 2-0) came on a five-yard touchdown run from Martinez to even the score at six with 6:24 left in the third.

The Lancers’ defense got a big stop on fourth and seven that led to a seven-yard touchdown run from Mueller with 22 seconds left in the third, giving Norwalk a 14-6 lead.

Mueller then stepped up on the defensive end as he stripped a Bellflower ballcarrier and recovered the fumble with 9:14 to play, halting the Buccaneers momentum.

Bellflower bounced back and made things interesting as Antoine Garner, normally a runner, took a pitch and hit Tray Pinkney for an 81-yard touchdown with 1:32 to play.

The Buccaneers went for two, but the Norwalk defensive line stuffed the run attempt to seal the victory.

Bellflower (7-2, 2-1) got on the board on its first possession of the game, scoring on a six-yard touchdown run from William Taylor at the 6:40 mark of the period.

That was the only score during the first half.