Downey comes up short against Paramount

DOWNEY - The Downey High School football team traveled last Friday night to face off against a Paramount squad who had an identical 2-0 league record. Downey came away with a 21-17 loss in a closely contested, highly competitive game.Paramount scored two first quarter touchdowns and a late fourth quarter touchdown on a seven yard pass with seven seconds left. The finish was a nailbiter as Downey dominated the second, third and most of the fourth quarters only to come up short. Downey still has a chance to claim a share of the league title if they can beat Dominguez and Lynwood, respectively and Dominguez can beat Paramount in next week's league finale. If this scenario sounds familiar, it is. This is exactly what happened last year. One thing remains clear however, the Vikings must win their last two games to have any chance at a share of the league title. As Downey found themselves down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Vikings certainly responded in resounding fashion by scoring 17 unanswered points in the second quarter. Downey scored their first touchdown of the game on a 35 yard touchdown pass from Jorge Reyna to Jeremy Villa at the 8:06 mark. The extra point was good and Downey cut the Paramount lead in half, 14-7. Downey recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Paramount 30 yard line and had an excellent opportunity to drive and score again. Downey marched the ball down to the Paramount 1 yard line and were on the verge of scoring a touchdown to tie the game. Downey, to their misfortune, fumbled on the next play and Paramount recovered. Paramount, however, could not move the ball and were forced to punt on fourth down from their own endzone. Downey received the ball in excellent field position and wasted little time marching to the endzone. Jeremy Villa scored his second touchdown of the game on a 25 yard strike from Reyna with 38 seconds left until the half. The extra point was good and the score was tied at 14. Downey, once again, regained possession on the ensuing kickoff and quickly moved the ball into field goal range. The Vikings scored on a Mario Galvan 27 yard field goal with 8 seconds left. The Vikings went into the locker room at halftime leading 17-14 and momentum was clearly in their favor. The third quarter saw the two teams exchange the ball and field position. No team scored and the score remained 17-14 as the third quarter came to a close. Downey put together a drive as the fourth quarter began. Downey kicker Mario Galvan attempted a 32 yard field goal at the 8:59 mark of the fourth quarter but his kick sailed wide right. The score remained 17-14. As the fourth quarter was winding down, the Pirates put together a drive. This drive took the Pirates down to the Downey seven yard line with seven seconds left. That is when Paramount completed a seven yard fade route for a touchdown. The extra point was good and the Pirates escaped with the 21-17 win. Jorge Reyna completed 15/24 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Reyna also led the Viking ground game with 18 carries for 111 yards. Justin Huff had 11 carries for 92 yards, Matthew Gonzalez had one carry for eight yards and Jeremy Villa had one carry for two yards. Jeremy Villa led the Viking receivers with six catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns, Justin Huff had four catches for 22 yards, Jacob Cook had three catches for 22 yards, Jonathan Swindell had one catch for eleven yards and Tristan Esparza had one catch for two yards. The Viking defense was led by Tristan Esparza's two solo and ten assisted tackles, Jeremy Villa's one solo and nine assisted tackles, Hector Walker's two solo and seven assisted tackles, Chris Blanton's one solo and seven assisted tackles and Patrick Smith's eight assisted tackles. The Vikings will host an unbeaten, 3-0 in league, Dominguez team tonight which is fresh off their 31-3 victory over Gahr last week.

********** Published: October 25, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 28