Sports Briefs: Vikings rally for victory

DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team won their season opener against Mayfair, 34-21, last Friday night at Bellflower High School. The Vikings are 1-0 and will play Vista Murrieta at home tonight. Vista Murrieta has not played a game yet this season. The game against Downey tonight will be the Broncos’ season opener.

The Broncos won last year’s game against Downey 66-28 at Vista Murrieta.The Broncos finished last season with an overall record of 12-2 and were 5-0 in the Southwestern League standings. Vista Murrieta lost the C.I.F. Inland Division championship game to Corona Centennial 26-12.

Mayfair took an early lead in the first quarter on a 73 yard defensive play by Querale Hall. The extra point was good and Mayfair led 7-0. The first quarter ended with Mayfair leading by the same 7-0 score. Neither team scored in the second quarter and the score at halftime was still 7-0 Mayfair.

Mayfair scored early in the third quarter on a seven yard pass from Jackson to Adam Johnston. The extra point was good and Mayfair took a 14-0 lead. Downey finally got on the score board in the third quarter when senior Justin Huff scored on a 13 yard run. The extra point was good and Downey cut into Mayfair’s lead making the score 21-7. Junior Daevon Vigilant added a second Viking touchdown on a seven yard run. The extra point was no good but the Vikings had pulled to within 21-13. Downey trailed the Monsoons 21-13 at the end of the third quarter.

Downey dominated the fourth quarter. The Vikings scored again at the 9:22 mark on a 68 yard run from Vigilant. The two point conversion was good and the game was tied at 21. Shortly thereafter, Downey senior defensive back Miguel Esquitin intercepted an Isaiah Jackson pass and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good and Downey took a 28-21 lead. Viking sophomore quarterback Trevor Hill completed a final touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jacob Cook to seal the win. The extra point was no good but Downey won 34-21.

Trevor Hill led the Viking offense by completing 19/31 passes for 264 yards and had two carries for 15 yards. Hill threw one touchdown pass and had two interceptions. The ground game was led by Vigilant’s 16 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Huff had 10 carries for 68 yards, senior Josh Flores had seven carries for 31 yards and senior Eddie Preciado had two carries for seven yards. Viking receivers were led by senior Jacob Cook’s five catches for 68 yards, junior Darrian Franklin’s five catches for 51 yards and Preciado’s four catches for 46 yards.

The Viking defense was led by senior Manny Ramirez’s three solo and seven assisted tackles, senior Chris Blanton’s five solo and four assisted tackles, junior Kiefer Enslin’s four solo and three assisted tackles and Cook’s four solo and two assisted tackles.

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The Warren High School football team scrimmaged against the Burbank Bulldogs last Friday night at Burbank, an opportunity for the Bear coaching staff to confirm their thoughts at each position, make some final adjustments and fine tune their game plan against St. Paul tonight.

Bear standouts Jordan Yancy, Jordan Mayes, Steven Zepeda and Benjamin Donerson have been working hard in the weight room and on the field and hope to lead Warren to a win.

St. Paul (1-0) defeated Firebaugh (0-1) of Lynwood 62-0 in their season opener. The Swordsmen were 1-9 last season but look to turn things around this season.

The Bears were 0-10 last year and look to make dramatic changes this year under first year head coach Raul Lara. Warren fans and students have been waiting several months for the debut of Coach Lara, his staff and players. The time is now here as the Bears meet the Swordsmen tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul High School.

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The Downey Calvary Chapel Grizzlies defeated an overmatched Santa Rosa Academy (0-1) Ranger team, 41,-0 last Saturday in Menifee.

The Grizzlies are now 1-0 on the young season and will host the Santa Clara Saints of Oxnard tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. at Downey High. This will be the Saints’ season opener.

DCC led at the end of the first quarter 13-0. The Grizzlies added another touchdown in the second quarter and led 20-0 at halftime. DCC scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter and led 34-0 as the quarter ended. The Grizzlies scored one more touchdown in the fourth quarter and sealed the 41-0 win.

The Grizzly offense was led by senior quarterback Daniel Castro’s 1/1 passing for eight yards. The DCC ground game was led by senior Sam Arcala’s five carries for 105 yards, senior Jeremy Hernandez’s eight carries for 39 yards, senior Josh Kudo-Morales’ six carries for 27 yards and junior Isaac Garcia’s three carries for 45 yards. The Grizzly offense rushed for 244 yards on 27 carries and was the key to the DCC victory. Arcala led the receiving corps with one catch for eight yards.

The DCC defense was led by junior Angel Solarza’s eight solo tackles, Arcala’s five solo and one assisted tackles, junior Brian Holm’s one solo and four assisted tackles and junior Byron Smith’s four solo tackles.

Head coach Jeff Welch, offensive coordinator Dan Latham and defensive coordinator Dale Whisler have brought a winning attitude and high expectations to the DCC football program.

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The St. John Bosco (1-0) football team is back from Hawaii after defeating St. Louis High School (0-2) of Honolulu 63-14 at Aloha Stadium two weeks ago.

The Braves did not play last Friday due to a previously scheduled bye week. Tonight the Braves will play Norwalk (1-0) at Cerritos College at 7 p.m.

Norwalk defeated Bell (0-1) at Bell 57-0 last Friday.

The Norwalk Lancers were 13-1 last season after losing the C.I.F. Southeast Division championship game to La Serna in double overtime at Cal State Fullerton. Before the loss to La Serna, the Lancers were 13-0 and had held nine of their 14 opponents to less than 15 points a game. On offense, the Lancers had seemingly mastered the double wing by averaging more than 44 points a game.

Norwalk has been looking forward to this challenge since the game was scheduled in early April. Not too many people are giving the Lancers a chance to win tonight. Comments like “shock the world” and “David vs. Goliath” have surfaced in football circles and social media.

Norwalk head coach Jesse Cisneros is appreciative of the opportunity to take on the defending state and national champions. “Not too many schools get this chance,” Cisneros has stated. Cisneros keeps his team focused by reminding them, “you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

St. John Bosco is currently ranked sixth nationally and second in California. Norwalk is currently ranked 655th nationally and 73rd in California. Bosco and Norwalk were the only two area teams who played in C.I.F. championship games last season.

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Published: Sept. 4, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 21