SPORTS BRIEFS: Downey advances in CIF playoffs
DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team improved to 8-3 on the season with a 51-20 win over California High last Friday night at Downey in the first round of the C.I.F. Southeast Division playoffs.
Downey has now won six games in a row and will travel to Cathedral of Los Angeles later today for their second round game against the Phantoms.
Cathedral is the second entry from the Angelus League and is currently 10-1 (4-1 in league play). Catheral’s only loss was to top Southeast Division seed St. Francis 52-41 on October 11th. Cathedral has currently won four games in a row, including a 36-22 win against Muir last Friday night in their first round playoff game.
In the California game, Downey and Cal were tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Vikings outscored the Condors 17-6 in the second quarter and led 24-13 at halftime. Downey blew things open in the third quarter and led 44-20 at the end of the quarter. The Vikings scored a fourth quarter touchdown and won 51-20.
Downey’s offense looked impressive against Cal. Downey quarterback Trevor Hill completed 14/20 pass attempts for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Downey’s rushing attack was led by Daevon Vigilant and Justin Huff’s 380 yards on 28 carries. The Vikings averaged close to 14 yards per carry en route to scoring four rushing touchdowns. Downey amassed 596 yards of total offense.
The Viking defense accounted for 44 solo tackles, 25 assisted tackles, six tackles for a loss, two passes defensed, one interception and one fumble recovery. Downey is playing good football at the right time and look to advance to the third round. The Vikings will face the winner of the Burbank/Salesian game if they can win tonight.
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The Warren High School boys’ cross country team competed at C.I.F. Prelims last Saturday at Mt. SAC and finished fourth in heat 2. With their strong finish, the Bears have advanced to C.I.F. Finals tomorrow, also at Mt. SAC.
The Bears finished behind Burbank Burroughs, Arcadia and Crescenta Valley. Burbank Burroughs finished in a team time of 1:17:40, Arcadia finished in a team time of 1:19:31, Crescenta Valley finished in a team time of 1:19:53 and Warren finished in a team time of 1:20:06.
Warren’s seven runners finished third, eighth, 18th, 38th, 57th, 64th and 80th. Senior Benjamin Gonzalez finished in 15:18, senior Andres Barragan finished in 15:37, junior Matthew Sanchez finished in 15:59, senior Jonathan Rodriguez finished in 16:26, junior Sergio Santana finished in 16:46, senior Freddy Menendez finished in 17:00 and junior Chris Estrada finished in 17:24.
Warren has been battling illness and injuries for the past few weeks. It appears the Bears have everyone back and healthy for tomorrow’s run. Warren won the C.I.F. Division I title last year and is looking forward to defending that title. Coach Miranda, Coach Rodriguez and Warren’s runners are excited for Saturday and still have their sites set on winning the state meet.
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Warren High School announced last week that two of their student-athletes have signed letters of intent to play sports at the college level.
Baseball player Jose Ruiz has committed to Cal State Northridge and will be a Matadore next fall.
Softball player Whitney Pemberton has committed to UC Santa Barbara and will be a Gaucho next fall.
The Warren High School administration, faculty and staff congratulate Jose and Whitney and wish them the best of luck in their respective futures.
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The Warren High School girls’ cross country team ran at C.I.F. Prelims last Saturday at Mt. SAC. The Lady Bears finished fifth in heat three and advanced to the C.I.F. Finals tomorrow, which is also being held at Mt. SAC.
At C.I.F. Prelims, Trabuco Hills finished heat three in first place in a team time of 1:33:13. Yucaipa finished second in a team time of 1:33:41, Chaparral finished third in a team time of 1:36:39, Burbank finished fourth in a team time of 1:35:27 (this is correct due to order of finish) and Warren finished fifth in a team time of 1:36:53.
The Lady Bears were led by sophomore Trinity Gomez. Gomez finished in 26th place in a time of 19:09. Junior Samantha Tabares finished in 30th place in a time of 19:17. Senior Marisa Pluma finished in 31st place in a time of 19:21 and senior Lisa Vasquez finished in 33rd place in a time of 19:30. Junior Janeane Hernandez finished in 35th place in a time of 19:36 and junior Gwendolyn Hurtado finished in 36th place in a time of 19:39. Senior Sadie Encinas finished in 50th place in a time of 19:59.
Coach Waldron, his staff and Lady Bear runners are looking forward to tomorrow and the opportunity to compete in C.I.F. Finals. Warren dominated San Gabriel Valley League competition by placing 1-7 at all three cluster meets, including S.G.V.L. Finals. The Lady Bears appear to be healthy, rested and ready to compete.
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The Downey middle schools have started their second sport(s) of competition this year. Boys’ volleyball and girls’ soccer are now competing.
The administration of these sports has changed. This season there are five teams competing district wide. There are sixth, seventh and eighth grade boy volleyball teams competing as well as a 6th-7th grade (junior varsity) and 8th grade (varsity) girl soccer teams competing. Four years ago, there were two boys’ teams: junior varsity (6th-7th) and varsity (8th) grades and one girls’ soccer team, grades 6-8.
The Stauffer Spartans traveled to Griffiths on Tuesday to play the Indians. Stauffer defeated Griffiths 15-10 and 15-8 in 8th grade boy volleyball competition. Griffiths won 10-15, 15-8 and 15-8 in 7th grade boy competition and Griffiths won 15-10 and 15-8 in 6th grade boy competition.
The Lady Indians defeated Stauffer 4-1 in varsity girl soccer competition and the Lady Spartans defeated Griffiths 2-1 in junior varsity girl competition.
The Sussman Pioneers traveled to Doty on Tuesday to play the Knights. Sussman defeated Doty 12-15, 16-14 and 15-10 in 8th grade boy volleyball competition. Doty won 15-5 and 18-16 in 7th grade competition and Doty won 16-14 and 15-1 in 6th grade competition.
The Lady Pioneers defeated Doty 3-0 in varsity girl soccer competition and the Lady Knights defeated Sussman 5-0 in junior varsity girl competition.
Griffiths traveled to Doty on Thursday to play the Knights while Stauffer and West competed across town at the same time (scores unavailable at press time).
There will no games played over Thanksgiving Break but will resume Tuesday after classes restart.
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Published: Nov. 20, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 32