Downey beats San Pedro despite being without starting quarterback

DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team traveled to San Pedro last Friday night and defeated the Pirates, 52-21.

The Vikings played without starting quarterback Kijjon Foots and still came away from the contest with a decisive 31-point win. Downey will travel to Alemany of Mission Hills later today to face a 3-1 Warrior team.

The Vikings jumped out to a commanding 19-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end. Downey outscored the Pirates 8-7 in the second quarter and led 27-7 going into the locker room at halftime.

It was more of the same in the third quarter as Downey outscored San Pedro 19-7 and took a commanding 46-14 lead into the fourth quarter. The Pirates outscored the Vikings 7-6 in the final quarter but Downey had already sealed the win.

Viking quarterback Pedro De and a completed 10/15 pass attempts for 82 yards. The Viking rushing attack accumulated 444 yards on 38 carries. Malcom Perry led that Viking ground game with 17 carries for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

Alex Cortez had 10 carries for 93 yards and three touchdowns, Isaiah Burton had one carry for 12 yards and a touchdown and freshman Antonio Ruiz had seven carries for 49 yards.

The Viking receiving corps were led by Lawrence Joseph’s five catches for 43 yards, Danny Ruiz’s four catches for 32 yards and Brenden Hodge’s two catches for 35 yards.

The Viking defense was led by Anthony Lopez’s 10 solo and three assisted tackles, Danny Ruiz’s five solo and three assisted tackles, Isaiah Burton’s five solo and three assisted tackles, Justin Cardenas’ three solo and five assisted tackles and Vincent Willis’ three solo and three assisted tackles.

WARREN FOOTBALL: The Warren High School football team suffered their first defeat of the season last Friday night at Culver City, 34-28.

With the win, the Centaurs improved to 3-0 and with the loss the Bears fell to 2-1. Warren will travel to Mayfair later today to play the 3-1 Monsoons. Mayfair is coming off a 55-7 loss against Santa Margarita at Trabuco Hills last Friday night.

In the Warren/Culver City game the Centaurs led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Bears answered right back in the second quarter and outscored Culver City, 14-7. Warren took that 20-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Centaurs scored the only touchdown and extra point of the third quarter and took the lead back at 21-20. Culver City outscored Warren 13-8 in the fourth quarter and held on for the hard fought, 34-28 win.

Warren quarterback Chris Venegas completed 20/34 pass attempts for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Venegas had an impressive quarterback rating of 108.7.

The Bear ground game accumulated 140 yards on 37 carries, an average of less than four yards per carry, with one touchdown while the Bear receiving corps had 20 receptions for 230 yards.

The Bear defense allowed 555 yards of total offense to the Centaurs. Culver City accumulated 332 yards on the ground and 223 yards through the air.

The Bears need to tighten up their run defense in order to defeat Mayfair tonight.

WARREN CROSS COUNTRY: The Warren High School boys’ cross country team competed in the Laguna Hills Invitational last Saturday morning, finishing in seventh place overall with a team time of 1:22:34.5.

Santa Ana finished first in a team time of 1:20:43.1, J Serra finished second in a team time of 1:21:01.9, Murrieta Mesa finished third in a team time of 1:21:36.4, Aliso Niguel finished fourth in a team time of 1:21:56.9 and Mira Costa finished fifth in a team time of 1:22:11.6.

To round out the top ten team finishers, Capo Valley finished sixth in a team time of 1:22:29.3, Warren finished seventh in a team time of 1:22:34.5, San Clemente finished eighth in a team time of 1:23:04.0, Vista Murrieta finished ninth in a team time of 1:23:24.8 and Corona Del Mar finished tenth in a team time of 1:23:25.2. There were over 50 schools competing in Laguna Hills last Saturday.

Warren’s Fabian Gomez finished 16th overall and was the first Bear to finish in a time of 16:10.8. Owen Franco finished second for the Bears and was 24th overall in a time of 16:21.0. Antonio Munoz finished third for the Bears and was 35th overall in a time of 16:32.7.

Warren’s Alex Guardado finished fourth for the Bears and was 36th overall in a time of 16:33.2. Gerardo Rubio finished fifth for the Bears and was 88th overall in a time of 16:56.8 and Andres Serna finished sixth for the Bears and was 95th overall in a time of 17:00.5.

Warren has been working hard this summer in preparation for their fall cross country schedule. Head coach Ramon Miranda, assistant coach Eduardo Rodriguez and their Bear runners are looking forward to the cross-country running season and the San Gabriel Valley League cluster meet schedule.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS: The first rotation of middle school sports has begun. Football and girls’ volleyball is currently in season and the first games of the 2018-19 school year were played on Monday.

There are six teams currently competing. Three grade level girls’ volleyball teams and three grade level football teams. Griffiths traveled to Stauffer and Doty traveled to Sussman.

At Stauffer, the Spartans 8th grade football team defeated the Indians 7-6, the Spartans 7th grade football team defeated the Indians 14-7 and the Spartans 6th grade football team defeated the Indians 8-0. In girls’ volleyball, the Lady Indians 8th grade team defeated the Lady Spartans 25-11 and 25-9, the Lady Spartans 7th grade team defeated the Lady Indians 25-19 and 25-21 and the 6th grade Lady Indians defeated the Lady Spartans 25-19 and 25-15.

At Sussman, the Knights 8th grade football defeated the Pioneers 14-0, the Knights 7th grade football team defeated the Pioneers 6-0 and the Knights 6th grade football team defeated the Pioneers 7-0. In girls’ volleyball, the Lady Knights 8th grade team defeated the Lady Pioneers 19-21, 21-16 and 15-7, the Lady Knights 7th grade team defeated the Lady Pioneers 21-10 and 21-11 and the Lady Pioneers 6th grade team defeated the Lady Knights 21-18, 14-21 and 15-11.

Wednesday games and matches saw Stauffer travel to Sussman and Griffiths travel to Doty (results unavailable at press time). Coaches and players are all looking forward to competitive games, matches and meets.

All schools are looking to claim the Champions Cup Trophy. Doty has held the Champions Cup Trophy for the last five years and look to defend it again this year.