DOWNEY - The Downey High School boys' water polo team hosted cross-town rival Warren on Tuesday afternoon and came away with a 12-4 win.It was the league opener for both teams as Downey is now 1-0 and Warren fell to 0-1. The San Gabriel Valley League will send three representatives to the C.I.F. Division IV playoffs. Cerritos is consistently good and is considered the league favorite. Each team plays their opponent only one time in league play which makes this rivalry all the more intense. Downey will continue their league schedule by hosting Gahr on Tuesday hosting Paramount on Oct. 16, playing Cerritos on Oct. 23 at Cerritos Park East and finish out their league schedule Oct. 30 against Whitney at C.P.E. Downey scored the first three goals of the game against Warren. The first goal came at the 5:17 mark of the first quarter and the second goal came at the 1:42 mark of the same quarter. The Vikings led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter. Downey scored again at the 5:56 mark of the second quarter on a penalty shot. Warren scored their first goal with one second left in the second quarter on a ten meter shot from the right outside. Downey led at halftime 3-1. Warren made the game interesting at the 5:18 mark of the third quarter when the Bears cut the Downey lead to 3-2. The momentum of the game appeared to change in Warren's favor and Warren fans were getting into the game. Downey, not wavering, answered Warren's goal with four straight goals of their own to close out the third quarter. Downey scored at the 4:40 mark, 4:04 mark, 1:17 mark and again at the :27 mark of the third quarter. The score after three quarters of play was 7-2 Downey. The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Vikings pulled away. Downey scored at the 6:26 mark of the fourth quarter and again at the 5:56 mark. Warren scored their first goal of the second half at the 5:44 mark of the fourth quarter and closed their deficit to 9-3. Downey answered back with goals at the 5:04 mark, 2:45 mark and again at the 1:53 mark. Warren scored a late goal with :11 seconds left to make it a 12-4 game. Coach Delhousay was pleased with his team's effort and particularly how well his team played on defense. Viking co-captains Danny Webb and goalkeeper James Morrison played well as did Peter Roldan, Andrew Rezk, Richard Gomez, David Lumbreras, Nick Rodriguez and Ryan Cruz. If Downey can beat Cerritos on Oct. 23, they have an excellent chance to be league champions and earn the No. 1 seed from the San Gabriel Valley League. Warren can still earn a piece of the league title if they beat Cerritos, and Cerritos beats Downey.

********** Published: October 4, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 25