Downey quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) runs on a keeper play against La Mirada in their league game at Excelsior High School in Norwalk on Friday. Downey defeated La Mirada 43-21. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

NORWALK – With the CIF-Southern Section playoffs set to begin tonight (Friday, Nov. 4), two teams – Downey and La Mirada high schools – are heading in two different directions.

Downey, which defeated La Mirada, 43-21, last Friday (Oct. 28), will take a road trip to Santa Barbara (9-1) for a first-round game in Division 4, while La Mirada (4-6, 2-3) ends its season.

In the final game of the regular season in inaugural Gateway League action, Downey (8-2) finished second to Warren (9-1) and the Matadores finished in fourth place with a 2-3 record. Warren travels to Sierra Canyon in Division 2.

“(La Mirada) really punched us in that first half,” Downey Football coach Jack Williams said. “They controlled the tempo and tried to keep or offense off the field.

“I thought we reacted in the second half and did some things. I love where we are at right now. We got smacked in the mouth a few weeks ago (Loss to Warren, 49-22) and responded (Win over Mayfair, 38-15). Getting smacked in the mouth before the end of the year, now you know what your team is about.”

The game, played at Excelsior High School, saw the Matadores tied midway through the third period, 21-21, with Downey. However, two late TDs in the third and one in the fourth by the Vikings led to a Downey win.

“Downey is a really good football program with a lot of speed and physical,” La Mirada Football coach Mike Moschetti said. “In the first half we played with emotion, but Downey is just tougher and more physical and more athletic than us.

“We hung in there for a little bit, but it just wasn’t good enough. Defensively, we were on our heels all night. They were running it, they were throwing it and pretty much could do whatever they wanted.”

Leading the way for Downey was senior quarterback Aidan Chiles (16 of 20, 202 yards, TD). Chiles, who has committed to Oregon State, also ran for 73 yards on five carries and two touchdowns.

Downey senior running back Jaylen Crutchfield carried the ball eight times for 64 yards and a touchdown and also caught one pass for 41 yards. Senior running back Keion Andrew carried the ball five times for 49 yards and a touchdown. He also had seven solo tackles and one assist.

Downey’s Keion Andrew (4) celebrates scoring a touchdown against La Mirada in their league game at Excelsior High School in Norwalk on Friday. Downey defeated La Mirada 43-21. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

Seven players caught passes for Chiles, with senior wide receiver Bryant Carey connecting for seven receptions for a game-high 104 yards and a score. Carey also had six solo tackles and three assists.

Junior wide receiver Manuel Albidrez had four catches for 59 yards.

La Mirada was led by senior running back CJ Zackery with 114 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown, while senior running back Denver Stillman ran for 33 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Defensively, Stillman had five solo tackles and four assists.

Senior quarterback Nehuel Garcia was 12 for 19 for 56 yards for the Matadores.

La Mirada senior wide receiver Xavier Hicks caught eight passes for 41 yards.

Downey got in the scoring column at 7:56 of the opening quarter with a 15-yard TD run by Crutchfield. The score was Crutchfields sixth of the season.

Strillman scored the first of his two touchdowns for La Mirada later in the quarter on a two-yard run up the middle to tie the game, 7-7. The score culminated a long drive that ate up clock time.

"We limited big plays by Downey in the first quarter,” Moschetti added.

Downey came right back early in the second quarter to take the lead again with the first of two running TDs by Chiles. Chiles, who has six rushing touchdowns this season, scored on a 30-yard run for the 14-7 lead with 9:12 left in the half.

But La Mirada wouldn’t go away as Stillman scored his second touchdown of the game, another 2-yard run to tie the game at 14-14 just before half.

“It was a great drive by the offense, and we ate up more of the clock,” Moschetti said.

The third quarter changed the game as the Vikings scored the first of three touchdowns, as Chiles ran for an 8-yuard score at 7:54 for the 21-14 lead.

However, just two minutes later La Mirada tied the score, 21-21, for the third time in the game on a short field with a 13-yard run by Zackery. The score was his 11th of the season for the Matadores.

The touchdown may the last for the Matadores at Excelsior High, as they await the completion of their new on-campus stadium. It’s been four years on the “road” for “home” games for La Mirada.

La Mirada had all the momentum going and pulled a surprise onside kick, but the ball didn’t go the distance and ended up in La Mirada territory.

“That was the turning point of the game,” Moschetti said.

In just a few plays after the La Mirada onside kick attempt, the Vikings scored the second of three touchdowns in the quarter on a 27-yard run by Andrew.

Downey added another score near the end of the quarter at 1:16, as sophomore quarterback Logan Bledsoe completed a 52-yard pass to Carey, his 15th touchdown of the season.

A two-point conversion pass from Chiles to Andrew extended the score to 36-21.

Following the Downey score, La Mirada was driving the ball and converted two fourth down plays, but came up just short on a third. They fell just one-yard short.

Chiles added another touchdown pass – his 25th of the season – to Crutchfield. It was a 39-yard score.

On the season for Chiles, who will be throwing passes for the Beavers at Oregon State soon, he totaled 2,217 yards with only three interceptions.

What they said:

Mike Moschetti, La Mirada football coach: “Offensively, we moved the ball a little bit and did some good things. They just wore us down.

It all starts with the head coach. There is a saying that I like to use – ‘When we win games, it’s the players. When we lose games, it’s the coaches’

I thought we were going to play better (Friday) than what we showed.

Our bright spot is we had three freshmen and six sophomores playing. That’s not an excuse. They’ve been playing all year. We really expected to come out and play a lot better than we did and win this game, but they really took it to us in the second half.”

Jack Williams, Downey football coach: “We were missing nine or ten defensive linemen and a lot of those guys were first timers getting their first action in the football game.”

Jaylen Crutchfield, La Mirada senior running back: “(Friday) we came out with a hard game and fight a lot and fought a lot of adversity in the first half. We came out in the second half and got the job done with hard work and dedication.”

The key to our success was for sure heart. The team came out with a lot of heart in the second half. I feel like we should have come out a lot faster in the first half. But heart finished off the game for sure.

Asked what he thought about his quarterback (Chiles), Crutchfield just said, ‘He’s a dog and I’ll leave it at that. He carried the team and put the team on his back.’

As for coach Williams, Crutchfield said, “I love the guy. Jack Williams is an amazing leader. He pushes us every day.”

Downey tops La Mirada in final game before playoffs