SPORTS BRIEFS: Bears appear ready to defend tennis league title
DOWNEY – The Warren High School girls’ tennis team currently has a 5-1 record. The Bears defeated Mayfair at Mayfair 13-5 on 9/2, defeated Millikan at Millikan 10-8 on 9/3 and defeated Lakewood at Lakewood 13-5 on 9/10.
Warren defeated Schurr at Warren 11-7 on 9/14, were defeated by Long Beach Wilson at Wilson 16-2 on 9/16 and defeated Whittier at Warren 15-3 on Monday. The loss against Wilson was the first of the year for the Bears.
The Bears have played four of their first six matches on the road in preparation for the start of their busy league schedule. The Bears have been battle tested and are now ready for league play to start and to defend their league title.
Warren is the 2014 S.G.V.L. champion. The Bears finished last season with an overall record of 18-2 and league record of 11-1. Warren defeated Lompoc at Warren in the first round of the C.I.F Division 3 playoffs before losing to Cerritos at Cerritos in the second round.
Warren began S.G.V.L. play Tuesday against Paramount at Warren and played Gahr at Gahr yesterday (score not available at press time). The Bears will host cross-town rival Downey on Sept.25 and then host Lynwood on Oct. 1.
The S.G.V.L. will be highly competitive once again this year. Downey and Paramount should challenge Warren for league supremacy. Coach Starksen, her staff and players are looking forward to the start of league play and making another run in the C.I.F. playoffs.
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The Downey High School football team defeated Long Beach Millikan last Friday night at Downey, 41-28. With the win, Downey improved to 2-2 on the season while Millikan fell to 2-2.
Downey will travel to Chino Hills later today to play the Huskies (2-2). Chino Hills is coming off a 63-28 loss at Bishop Amat last Friday night. Downey did not play the Huskies last season but did play Huntington Beach in week five.
In the Millikan game, the Downey offense completed 5/12 pass attempts for 161 yards and one touchdown. The Viking ground game accumulated 391 yards on 34 carries and five touchdowns. Running back Daevon Vigilant led the way for the Vikings with 268 of those rushing yards and four touchdowns. Downey amassed 552 yards on offense.
The Millikan offense completed 14/35 pass attempts for 170 passing yards and two interceptions while the Ram rushing attack had 204 rushing yards on 31 carries. The Rams had 374 yards of offense.
Downey jumped out to an early lead and led 20-3 at halftime. Millikan cut Downey’s lead to 27-15 at the end of the third quarter as they outscored the Vikings 12-7 in the third quarter. Downey answered back by scoring two quick touchdowns in the fourth quarter and took a commanding 41-15 lead with ten minutes to play. The Rams scored two late touchdowns to close the score to 41-28 but it was not enough. Downey won by that same 41-28 score.
Downey will have their bye week after the Chino Hills game tonight. The Viking preseason schedule will now come to a close. The Vikings will open S.G.V.L. play when they host Dominguez on October 9. Coach Williams, his staff and players are looking forward to the start of San Gabriel Valley League play and another playoff run.
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The Warren High High School football team defeated Firebaugh last Friday night at Lynwood 66-0. With the win, Warren improved to 2-1 on the young season while Firebaugh fell to 0-4.
Warren will travel to Western High School of Anaheim later today for their game against the Pioneers. Western is 1-3 and is coming off a 34-7 loss against El Modena at home.
In the Firebaugh game, the Bears jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Warren scored 36 points in the first quarter and tacked on another 23 points in the second quarter. The score at halftime was 59-0. The Bears scored another touchdown in the third quarter and led 66-0 at the end of the quarter. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter and Warren won the game by that same 66-0 score.
Warren will host Gardena next Friday night in their last preseason game. The Bears will begin San Gabriel Valley League play when they host Paramount on October 9. The Bears have an excellent chance of winning their two remaining preseason games and starting league play with a 4-1 record. Coach Lara, his staff and players have certainly opened some eyes with their improved play.
Warren will host cross-town rival Downey on Oct. 23. That game against Downey will serve as a measuring stick on how far the Bears have come in the past two years. The Bears lost last year’s Downey-Warren game 49-19. The Bears are looking forward to the start of league play and proving how far they have come in such a short period of time.
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Downey High School is in the process of producing a school newsletter to keep followers up to date on the “goings and the successes of Downey student athletes and alumni.”
This week’s edition featured information about football vs. Millikan, girls’ volleyball, girls’ golf, alumni Joy Miley (Marquette University), alumni Idalis Gonzalez (University of Louisiana-Monroe) and alumni Jabari Ruffin (USC).
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Nicole Boyle is the new girls’ volleyball coach at Downey High. Boyle is taking over from long time head coach and alumni Andrea Sims. Downey currently has an overall record of 2-6 and have not started league play.
The Lady Vikings were defeated by Gustine at Gustine 2-0 on 8/29, were defeated by Lakewood at Lakewood 3-0 on 9/3 and were defeated by Millikan at Millikan 3-2 on 9/5.
The Lady Vikings were defeated by Campo Verde of Gilbert, Arizona 3-0 on 9/5 and defeated Torrance 3-2 on 9/5 at the same Molten Volleyball Classic Tournament.
Downey was defeated by Mayfair at Downey 3-1 on 9/10, defeated Cypress at Cypress on 9/15 and were defeated by La Serna at Downey 3-0 on 9/17. Downey will play at Valley Christian on 9/24 in the Valley Christian Tournament. The Lady Vikings will then travel to Troy next Tuesday and will begin league play when they travel to Dominguez on Oct.1. Downey will host Lynwood on 10/6 and will then travel to cross-town rival Warren on 10/8.
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The Lady Viking golf team took second place in the 3 Girl Team Division at the South Bay Girls Golf Classic at Los Verdes Golf Course last week.
Former standout Viking and current USC football player Jabari Ruffin led the Trojans out of the Coliseum tunnel Saturday against Stanford. Ruffin was joined by actor/comedian Will Farrell in that honor.