LAKEWOOD — Lakewood football ran out of time and out of luck in a 31-23 loss to Laguna Hills Friday night.

Lakewood dropped to 1-2 while Laguna Hills improved to 3-0.

Lancers quarterback Kade Casillas and wideout JT Dacoud shined throughout the night.

After a scoreless first quarter, Casillas lit up the scoreboard in the second with a 34-yard touchdown pass to senior captain JT Dacoud. Laguna Hills answered with a 30-yard field goal.

Dacoud had an outstanding night, finishing over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns, while Casillas threw for over 250 yards and two touchdowns.

“We built a lot of trust over the summer. He’s coming in, he’s a sophomore and as a senior I have to make sure I help lead him and take care of the offense,” Dacoud said of Casillas.

The Hawks kept their momentum. Facing a fourth down on their own 34, Lakewood punter Anthony Heang had his punt blocked and the Hawks took over in Lakewood territory.

Hawks quarterback Ben Tecchio cashed in on the turnover as he found Reece Burnham for an 11-yard touchdown.

With under two minutes to go in the half, Casillas managed to drive inside the Laguna Hills 20-yard-line, but that was it. The Hawks stopped the Lancers on their next three plays.

With just under 30 seconds to go in the half, Lakewood coach Justin Utupo elected to go for the 10-10 tie.

Laguna Hills dominated the start of the third quarter. Tecchio opened the second half by driving his Hawks to the Lakewood 1. He muscled got into the end zone with a strong push from his teammates.

The Hawks followed that with a 12-yard TD run by John Ponce that extended their lead to 14 points.

Things got wild in the last minute of the third. Lakewood got its offense going and Dacoud came up big again by catching a 25-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked.

With just 18 seconds remaining in the quarter, Laguna Hills and Lakewood began to look like a basketball game.

The Hawks’ Jake Minotta returned the kick off 90 yards for a touchdown that made it seem like the game was out of reach for Lakewood.

But Lakewood’s Cecil Xavier Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a score, drawing a big roar from the crowd.

With Lakewood trailing by eight, the teams exchanged possessions but multiples flags cost Lakewood yardage in their final two possessions.

On the final possession, the Lancers were out of timeouts and failed to get out of bounds on the final play.

“This game was good for us, a teaching moment for our team to be able to have a short-term memory and continue to move forward,” Utupo said.

Lakewood will host Mayfair on Sept. 8.

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