Refs, Crescenta Valley beat Downey, 21-14
DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team saw their season come to an end in the C.I.F Southeast Division final at Glendale High School last Friday night. Crescenta Valley completed their perfect 14-0 season with a controversial 21-14 win against the Vikings. Downey finished their season at 10-4 and had won eight straight games heading into the title game.
For those who were not at the game or did not see the game, the game ended in a shroud of controversy. Downey and Crescenta Valley were tied at 14 heading into the fourth quarter. Crescenta Valley went ahead 21-14 on a 22-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
As the clock was running down in the fourth quarter, Downey drove the ball down the field attempting to tie the game. On a fourth-and-seven play from the Falcon 21-yard line, with about 2:30 left on the clock, Viking quarterback Trevor Hill scrambled to his right and threw an apparent touchdown pass to wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie.
Chukwumezie caught the ball moving from right to left in front of a Falcon defender in the end zone. Chukwumezie then fell to the ground with the ball clearly secured.
The side judge, who was closer to the play, signaled touchdown. However, the back judge signaled incomplete pass as he pointed to the ground. The referees then huddled and the back judge’s decision stood.
If you have not seen the video of this play yet, please view Downey vs. Crescenta Valley on youtube.com. In all my years around sports and coaching, I have seen plenty of bad calls, no calls, etc. This call was absolutely horrible, in a title game nonetheless.
Congratulations to Downey on their effort and season. Hold your heads high, boys. The game should have been decided in overtime.
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The Warren High School boys’ soccer team lost to University, 1-0, last Thursday and fell to Bellflower, 2-1, on Monday. The Bears are 0-2 on the young season.
The Bears played Cabrillo at Harbor College Wednesday (score unavailable at press time) and will host Norwalk later today. The Bears are coming off a co-S.G.V.L. championship with Paramount last season. Coach Pena, his staff, and players are looking forward to the start of their season. Warren won a C.I.F. title two season ago.
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The Warren High School girls’ soccer team currently has a 3-0 record. The Lady Bears defeated Bellflower 11-0 on Dec. 2, defeated University at home 2-1 last Thursday and defeated Notre Dame Academy 1-0 on Tuesday.
The Bears are being led by first year head coach Liliana Dussan. Junior striker Estella Sanchez returns for the Lady Bears with more experience and skill under her belt. Warren will play again on Saturday in tournament play before they host Artesia next Monday.
The Lady Bears are excited for the start of their season and are looking forward to making a run at cross-town rival Downey and the S.G.V.L. title.
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The Warren High School girls’ basketball team is currently 1-1. The Lady Bears lost to Orange Lutheran last Friday night in their season opener and defeated Long Beach Wilson 75-47 Tuesday night in the Ocean View Tournament. In the Long Beach Wilson game, Denise Gonzalez scored 34 points while Vivian Hernandez added 17. Warren played again Wednesday night against Ocean View at Ocean View (score unavailable at press time).
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In other Warren basketball news, alumni Danielle Rodriguez has been nominated for the 2015 Allstate WBCA Goodworks Team. Danielle is one of just three PAC-12 women’s basketball student-athletes recognized.
Please go to www.utahutes.com/sports for more information. Congratulations, D-Rod.
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The Downey High School boys’ soccer team claimed the Aliso Cup championship Monday evening with a 2-0 result over Aliso Niguel.
With the win, Downey is now 4-0-1 on the young season.
Viking striker Bryan Majano scored both of Downey’s goals in the winning effort. Mojano scored during the 25th minute of the first half and added his second goal during the 70th minute of the second half to secure the win.
Downey tied Century 1-1, defeated El Dorado, defeated University 2-1 and defeated Santiago 3-0 en route to defeating Aliso Niguel in the final. The Vikings played Lakewood at home on Wednesday (score unavailable at press time). Coach Mires, his staff and players are excited that their season has finally started.
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The Downey High School girls’ soccer team fell to Lakewood on Tuesday 1-0.
Downey JV head coach Carlos Lara has taken over the program after longtime assistant and recently hired head coach Brandon Hitchcock was arrested for having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Downey has owned the San Gabriel Valley League the last several years and has claimed multiple C.I.F. titles as well.
Senior goalkeeper Idalis Gonzalez, Zaira Hernandez, Nicole Flores, Emilie Botello and Charlotte Chavarria all return with more experience and skill under their belts. League MVP Lucy Martinez was lost to graduation from a year ago.
Despite the recent distractions around the program, Coach Lara, his staff and players are looking forward to winning another S.G.V.L. title and making a deep run in the C.I.F. playoffs.
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Middle school sports wrapped up their boys’ volleyball and girls’ soccer seasons yesterday (final scores and standings not available at press time).
Action from Tuesday included competitive games where Sussman traveled to Stauffer and Doty traveled to Griffiths. Several city titles were still up for grabs as the last scheduled games were completed.
At Stauffer, the Sussman 8th grade boys’ volleyball team defeated the Spartans 21-9 and 21-13. The Sussman 7th grade boys’ team defeated the Spartans 21-19 and 21-18 while the Stauffer 6th grade boys defeated the Pioneers in three sets 9-21, 21-5 and 15-10. The Sussman 8th grade girl soccer team defeated Stauffer 1-0 and the Sussman J.V. girls also defeated the Spartans by the same 1-0 score.
At Griffiths, the Doty 8th grade boys’ volleyball team defeated the Indians 21-2 and 21-8. The Doty 7th grade boys’ team defeated the Indians 21-16 and 21-17 while the Griffiths 6th grade boys defeated the Knights 21-10 and 21-15. The Griffiths 8th grade girl soccer team defeated Doty 2-1 and the J.V.teams played to a 1-1 tie. The tie was not settled by penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks attempted to determine a J.V. winner but each team missed a penalty kick. Griffiths went first and converted. Doty also converted their first kick. It was 1-1 after the first round of penalty kicks.
The Griffiths player hit the cross bar on the second attempt and the Doty kicker converted. It was 2-1 Doty after the second round of penalty kicks. The Griffiths player converted the Indian third attempt and the Doty kicker was stopped by the Griffith goalkeeper to preserve the tie, 2-2.
The fans in attendance were excited to see a game determined by penalty kicks. It was a competitive game which saw the best players from each school try their best.
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Published: Dec. 11, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 35