Norwalk High School took the field at Excelsior Stadium Friday unbeaten, but facing its most dangerous Suburban League opponent to date.

Eager to avenge last year’s first loss in eight years to the Lancers, La Mirada rallied from an early deficit to prevail 42-35.

With two games left, La Mirada (7-1, 4-0) is in the driver’s seat as far as winning its first league title since 2001 goes. Norwalk (7-1, 3-1), which hosts Artesia Friday, is now in the position of battling Mayfair (4-5, 4-1) for second place.

Two pivotal drives in the fourth quarter led by senior quarterback Daniel Poncedeleon and an unsuccessful late fourth-down call by the Lancers proved crucial.

It was the first taste of defeat for the Lancers, who came in ranked No. 1 in the CIF-SS Southern Division and were beating teams by an average margin of 31.9 points. A case in point -- last week’s 60-8 pummeling of Bellflower.

Norwalk also brought along running back Adrian Gonzales’s 891 rushing yards for the 2009 campaign.

Matadores, however bounced back from a sluggish start, dominated the double wing-T offense and had big offensive plays late in the fourth quarter.

“Both teams showed heart, we made the right defensive adjustments in the second half,” La Mirada co-coach Ollie Lynch said.

He was asked to specify key defensive adjustments.

“We might be facing them in the playoffs, I can’t say too much,” Lynch added.

La Mirada allowed Norwalk 448 total rush yards, but only 104 were in the second half when the Matadores were outscoring the Lancers, 28-7.

“This is a great rivalry,” Lynch said. “It’s both coaches second year, it was fun battling them tonight, and we look forward to many more of these.”

Two big runs by juniors Elihjaa Penny (seven carries, 156 yards) and Billy Moore (13 carries, 114 yards) totaled 150 yards in the second quarter, more than what all three Lancer backs rushed for in the second half.

The Lancers went up 19-7 on Penny’s ninth touchdown of the season. After finding a hole through the right side on a handoff, he broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown run.

Moore’s 60-yard run with 5:53 left in the second period stretched the lead to 26-7.

La Mirada responded with a nine-play drive, scoring with over a minute left on a five-yard run by J.T. Torres.

The Matadores wasted little time — 20 seconds to be precise — to score in the third quarter. Poncedeleon’s 80-yard run made it a 26-21 game.

“The drive ending the half gave them the momentum,” Norwalk coach Jesse Ceniceros said. “Even though we had the lead, (after) the first play in the third quarter, they had all the momentum.”

After Torres snatched the ball from tight end Ryan Martinez at the Lancers 27,
Poncedeleon, who went 20-of-26 for 264 yards and three TDs passing, wasted no time taking the lead by finding receiver Julian Matta for a 27-yard score that put La Mirada up, 28-26.

Norwalk took the lead for a final time on a 14-yard run by Penny. Later, the Lancers had a chance to close it out, but Penny was stopped short on a fourth-and-three.

“That was my call, it was my fault, I told the kids that,” Ceniceros said.

La Mirada quickly answered on Torres’ second TD run with 9:41 left to reclaim the lead at 35-33.

On their next possession, the Matadores used up more than five minutes before scoring on a two-yard pass to Keith Coty.

The Lancers for the first time will have to rebound from a loss and will need to re-energize an offensive line that is showing signs of wearing down late in games.

“I’m beginning to see that the line begins to get tired,” Ceniceros said. “We just have to keep working. They haven’t gotten that killer instinct yet.”