Sports Briefs: Downey advances to CIF second round
DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team improved to 7-4 last Friday night with a 35-7 first round home playoff win against Whittier.
The Vikings will now turn their attention to Cathedral as they will host the Phantoms later today. Cathedral defeated last year’s C.I.F. Southeast Division champions, Crescenta Valley, 58-19 at Cathedral (10-1) in their first round matchup.
In the Downey/Whittier game, the Vikings took an early lead and led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. Downey added two touchdowns in the second quarter and led 21-0 going into the locker room at halftime.
Both Downey and Whittier exchanged touchdowns and PATs in the third quarter and Downey led 28-7 at the end of the third quarter. The Vikings had an interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Michael Vital late in the game to seal the 35-7 win.
Downey quarterback Rafeeq Rahim completed 13/21 pass attempts for 193 yards. Rahim had one touchdown and one interception.The Viking rushing attack was led by Daevon Vigilant’s 15 carries for 172 yards and one touchdown. Emari Demercado had six carries for 63 yards and one touchdown and Rahim added four carries for 33 yards and one touchdown. Downey gained 350 yards on 37 rush attempts.
The Downey receiving corps were led by Jalen Thompson’s four carries for 96 yards and one touchdown, Hinckley Ropati’s four catches for 38 yards, Ryder Hawkins four catches for 33 yards and Albert Padilla’s one catch for 26 yards. Viking receivers caught 13 passes for 193 yards.
The Downey defense was led by Darryon Bunton’s six solo and seven assisted tackles, Eli Garcia’s five solo and six assisted tackles and Ryan Collins’ eight solo and two assisted tackles.
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The Warren High School football team saw their season come to an end last Friday night at home against St. Francis, 21-19.
The Bears finished their season with an overall record of 8-3 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 4-1. The Bears were S.G.V.L. tri-champions with cross-town rival Downey and Dominguez and won the coin toss to be the number one league entry.
In the Warren/St. Francis game, St. Francis led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter due to a missed PAT from Warren. The Golden Knights added a touchdown and PAT with under a minute to play in the second quarter and led 14-6 going into the locker room at halftime.
Warren scored a touchdown in the third quarter with seven minutes to play but missed on the two-point conversion. The score was 14-12 Cathedral and the score remained that way to close out the quarter.
Warren and St. Paul exchanged the ball and field position for the first ten minutes of the fourth quarter. St. Francis scored with a minute to play and converted the PAT. The Golden Knights Knights extended their lead to 21-12.
With under a minute to play, Warren received the kickoff from St. Francis and drove the ball down the field. Bear quarterback Jordan Yancy completed a five yard touchdown pass and the PAT was good. The Bears pulled to within 21-19 with seconds to play. Warren tried an onside kick but were unsuccessful. St. Francis recovered the ball and held on for the 21-19 win.
St. Francis will now play Burroughs (10-1, 7-0) in their second round game. Burroughs defeated Norwalk 16-9 in their first round game.
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The Downey High School girls’ volleyball team saw their season come to an end last Tuesday evening at Yorba Linda High School in the first round of the C.I.F. Division 2AA playoffs in three sets.
The Lady Vikings finished their season with an overall record of 10-13 and were 7-3 in S.G.V.L. play. Downey was defeated by Warren twice and split the season series with Gahr. For their efforts during the regular season, the Lady Vikings earned the number three entry from the San Gabriel Valley League behind number one entry Warren (16-7, 9-1) and number two entry Gahr (18-10, 8-2). Paramount (12-12, 4-6) received a fourth entry from the S.G.V.L.
Number one S.G.V.L. entry Warren defeated Estancia in the first round in three sets to advance to the second round on November 10. The Lady Bears were defeated by top seeded Village Christian in the second round in three sets 25-14, 25-16 and 25-12 on November 12.
Number two S.G.V.L. entry Gahr was defeated by Maranatha in the first round in three sets 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22 on November 10.
Number four S.G.V.L. entry Paramount was defeated by Esperanza in the first round in three sets 25-10, 25-12 and 25-21 on November 10.
The C.I.F. Division 2AA final will feature Village Christian (30-7) vs. Chadwick (27-3)and will be played tomorrow. Village Christian defeated Laguna Beach 25-18, 19-25, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-13 and Chadwick defeated South 25-20, 25-12 and 25-19 to reach the championship match.
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The Warren High School girls’ cross country team advanced to C.I.F. Finals last Saturday in Riverside by finishing second in heat 2 at C.I.F. Preliminaries.
Warren finished behind Dana Hills in heat 2 and secured the third fastest overall time in Division 1 competition. C.I.F. Finals will be held this Saturday at Mt. SAC at 10:25 a.m. The top seven teams will advance to the state meet.
Great Oak had the fastest Division 1 team time of 1:28:32 and competed in heat 1. Dana Hills was second with a time of 1:30:00, Warren was third with a time of 1:30:04, Arcadia was fourth with a time of 1:30:12, Long Beach Poly was fifth with a time of 1:30:20, Yucaipa was sixth with a time of 1:30:45 and Ventura was seventh with a time of 1:31:15.
The Lady Bears had two runners place in the top ten. Gwendolyn Hurtado finished sixth in a time of 17:28 and Samantha Tabares finished eighth in a time of 17:32. Janeane Hernandez finished 29th in a time of 18:12, Trinity Gomez finished 30th in a time of 18:13 and Carlota Conant finished 47th in a time of 18:37. Lady Bear Blanca Robles finished 68th in a time of 18:59 and Lady Bear Jessica Egizii finished 107th in a time of 19:48.
The Lady Bears will run in C.I.F. Finals against Great Oak, Long Beach Poly, Yucaipa, Vista Murrieta, Redondo Union, Beaumont, Camarillo, Rancho Cucamonga, Dana Hills, Arcadia, Ventura, Trabuco Hills, Roosevelt, Burbank Burroughs and Newbury Park.
Coach Waldron, his staff and Lady Bear runners are looking forward to running at C.I.F. Finals and qualifying for the state meet. Warren previously qualified for the state meet in 2009.