Vikings win home opener, now prepare for Hawaii

DOWNEY -- The Downey High School football team defeated Hart at Downey on Friday night, 33-21, evening their record at 1-1.

The Vikings will host Kapolei of Hawai’i on Friday in the first game of a home and away series. The Hurricanes are currently 1-2.

In the Downey/Hart game, the Vikings took an early 7-0 lead and led by that same score as the first quarter ended. The Vikings outscored Hart 13-7 in the second quarter and took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

Both teams scored a touchdown and extra point in the third quarter and the score was 27-14 at the end of the third quarter. 

Hart outscored Downey, 7-6, in the fourth quarter but the game was already decided and Downey came away with the 33-21 win.

Viking quarterback Kijjon Foots completed 14/22 pass attempts for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Foots also led the Downey ground game with 11 carries for 114 yards. 
 

Malcom Perry had 13 carries for 51 yards and two touchdowns, Jaden Allen had 10 carries for 43 yards and one touchdown and Malachi Rice gained 29 yards on two carries.

The Viking receiving corps were led by Lawrence Joseph’s four catches for 42 yards, Danny Ruiz’s three catches for 54 yards and one touchdown, Noah Skobis’ three catches for 46 yards and one touchdown and Brenden Hodge’s two catches for 27 yards.

Downey’s defense was led by Anthony Lopez’s four solo and five assisted tackles, Malcom Perry’s five solo and one assisted tackle, Daniel Mena’s four solo and two assisted tackles, Vincent Willis’ three solo and three assisted tackles, Danny Ruiz’s five solo tackles, Isaiah Burton’s five solo tackles and Jaden Allen’s three solo and two assisted tackles. 

WARREN FOOTBALL: The Warren High School football team defeated St. Anthony’s of Long Beach at Warren last Friday night, 49-14. 

The Bears scored early and often in their season opener. They will host Huntington Park on Friday. 

Huntington Park is currently 0-2 after being shut out by Rosemead, 28-0, in their first game, followed by a loss at Jefferson, 28-18, in their second game.

Warren quarterback Chris Venegas completed 16/22 pass attempts for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Venegas’ quarterback rating was an impressive 154.4. 

The Bear ground game was led by Nikko Fierro-Tuala’s nine carries for 67 yards and two touchdowns, Eimajah Hunter’s six carries for 73 yards and one touchdown and Carlos Parra’s six carries for 48 yards.

The Bear receiving corps were led by Desmond Carnes’ four catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns, Jabari Hughes Jr.’s four catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns, Keison Evans’ four catches for 75 yards and Robbie Colenzo’s three catches for 40 yards.

Warren’s defense was led by Jonathan McDaniel Jr.’s seven solo and one assisted tackle, Stephen Austin’s five solo and one assisted tackle, Xamarion Gordon’s five solo and one assisted tackle and Alex Valenzuela’s four solo and two assisted tackles.

BOSCO FOOTBALL: The St. John Bosco football team traveled to Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield last Friday night and defeated the Rams, 56-0. 

With the win, the Braves improved to 2-0 on the season while the Rams fell to 0-2. St. John Bosco will host Mililani High School on Friday at Panish Family Stadium. 

The Mililani Trojans come to southern California with a record of 3-0. Mililani defeated Kailua, 44-6, in their first game, defeated Farrington, 57-15, in their second game and defeated Kamehameha Kapalama, 31-24, in their third game. 

In the St. John Bosco/Garces game, the Braves scored early and often in their convincing victory. St. John Bosco scored two touchdowns and converted the extra points in the first quarter and took an early 14-0 lead. 

The Braves added four more touchdowns in the second quarter and led 42-0 going into the locker room at halftime.

The Braves scored another touchdown in the third quarter for a 49-0 lead entering the fourth quarter. A final touchdown in the final quarter sealed the 56-0 win. There were no game stats posted at press time. 

The second half of this game provided an excellent opportunity for the Brave reserves to get some valuable playing time.

Coach Negro, his staff and players are all looking forward to handing Mililani of Hawai’i their first loss of the season later. St. John Bosco remains number one in the Xcellent Top 25 poll, falls to number two in the national poll (IMG Academy of Bradenton, Florida) and remains number one in the state poll.

CALVARY FOOTBALL: The Downey Calvary Chapel football team hosted their first game of the season last Saturday night at Downey High School and defeated Lighthouse Christian, 46-0. 

DCC scored early and often and coasted to the victory. There were only limited game stats available at press time.

The Grizzlies will travel to Julian on Sept. 15 to play the Eagles. The Eagles are currently 0-2 with losses against Warner High School in week one and Noli Indian High School of San Jacinto in week two. 

DCC plays an eight-game schedule and this explains the byes for the next three weeks.

PIUS-MATTHIAS: The St. Piux X-St. Matthias Academy team hosted The Webb Schools last Saturday afternoon and were defeated, 35-7. There were no stats available at press time.

Pius-Matthias will travel to Bishop Montgomery on Friday to play the Knights, who are 1-0 after defeating South Torrance last week, 20-14.