2019 could be breakout year at TCU for former Viking

Former Downey High School standout running back Emari Demercado is making a name for himself at Texas Christian University.

Demercado spent one season at Saddle Back College in Mission Viejo before transferring to TCU for his sophomore season last year.

Demercado has been waiting patiently at TCU behind older running backs Darius Anderson and Sewo Olinilua for an opportunity to play. Both running backs may very well be playing on Sunday afternoons next season.

Demercado made a name for himself in TCU’s 16-9 win against Baylor in the third to the last game of the season last year. Emari had 15 carries for 60 yards in that game and finished the season with 224 yards on 57 carries (3.9 yards per carry). Demercado also had five receptions to help TCU earn a postseason bowl berth.

Head coach Gary Patterson said, “He plays all of our special teams. He’s our off-returner. He’s on punt team. He runs down kickoffs. He’s about as valuable as anybody we have on the team to be honest with you.”

As a junior at TCU, Demercado is expected to have a breakout season. Downey head coach Jack Williams and his staff are extremely proud of what Demercado has done and wish him the best of luck in his future.

Warren Athletics - Warren High School athletics had several tryouts taking place this week.

Girls’ soccer tryouts were held Wednesday and Thursday at the lower basin field.

Boys’ and Girls’ basketball tryouts were held on Tuesday.

Softball tryouts were held on Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. on the softball field. Baseball tryouts were held on Monday and Tuesday at 3 p.m. on the baseball field. Any questions regarding baseball tryouts should be directed to head coach Scott Pearson.

Wrestling tryouts were held Monday and Tuesday.

Boys’ soccer tryouts will be held next Monday and Wednesday at 3 p.m. for freshmen and sophomores and 6:30 p.m. for returning junior varsity and varsity athletes. Head coach Miguel Pena is currently taking sign-ups all week on the blacktop basketball courts at 3 p.m.

Warren Girls’ Volleyball - The Warren girls’ volleyball team traveled to Norwalk on Tuesday for their season opener and were defeated in five sets, (13-15 in the fifth set), by the Lady Lancers. The Lady Bears hosted Pioneer at Warren yesterday in their home-opener (scores unavailable at press time).

The Warren High School football team will be traveling to Long Beach Poly later today for their scrimmage against the Jackrabbits at 6:30 p.m. The junior varsity team will scrimmage Poly at Poly as well. The Bears will officially open their 2019 football season when they travel to Clark Field in Long Beach to face St. Anthony’s next Friday night.

The scrimmages against Long Beach Poly later today will provide the Warren coaching staff with valuable information they can use moving forward. It will give head coach Kevin Pearson and his position coaches an opportunity to see how their players compete in game-like circumstances and will also give coaches a chance to adjust and tweak their line-ups and individual players’ playing time for their opener.

Coach Pearson, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of the 2019 football season and competing for the San Gabriel Valley League title as well as a postseason playoff spot.

Downey Football - The Downey High School football program hosted a scrimmage last Friday night against Cathedral High School at Downey. The freshmen team scrimmaged at 3 p.m., the junior varsity team scrimmaged at 5 p.m., and the varsity team scrimmaged at 7 p.m.

There was a nice turnout both in the parking lot and in the stands from both programs. Cathedral was wearing purple and white uniforms and Downey was wearing their cardinal tops with black bottoms. Both teams put on their pads and helmets and were finally able to hit someone else besides themselves.

The scrimmages proved beneficial for both programs as head and position coaches were able to see how well their players performed in game-like situations. With scrimmages, coaches have opportunities to make last minute adjustments and tweak their lineups for the start of their respective seasons.

Downey will travel to Corona del Mar of Newport Beach for their season opener later tonight before flying to Hawai’i and facing Kapolei next Friday night. Downey did not play Corona del Mar last season and were defeated by Kapolei 23-14 at Downey.

Coach Williams, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of their 2019 football season and earning a spot in postseason play.