La Serna defense smothers Warren in nonleague game
Warren running back Jayden Flores (22) drives through the line with La Serna defenders on his back in their non-league game at Thorstenson Stadium in Whittier on Thursday. La Serna defeated Warren 42-7. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
WHITTIER – After advancing to the last two CIF Championship games over the last two seasons, 2025 has been a rough start for the Warren High School Football team this year as they lost to host La Serna, 42-7, in a nonleague game Thursday night (September 4) at Cal High.
With the loss, the Bears dropped to 0-3 on the season.
They will aim for their first win Friday (September 12) with a home game against Orange Vista.
Actually, Warren started last year with five straight losses to start the season but rebounded and won three out of the last five games in the Gateway League to advance to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
The Bears made a run in the CIF Division 7 playoffs, averaging nearly 40 points per game, but fell in the title game to Rio Hondo Prep. The previous year, they lost a heart breaker, 24-21, to St. Bonaventure in the division 3 championship game.
Thursday night, the Bears went up against a La Serna team that also advanced to a CIF Championship game last year.
La Serna (3-1) started fast, scoring on its first four possessions in the first half to lead, 28-0, and never looked back.
“Our defense has been doing their thing all year long up to this point,” La Serna coach Andy George said.
The defense has allowed only one touchdown in the last two games for the Lancers. “Coach (Brian) Mustain does an incredible job with our defense, and they love to hit and they were phenomenal (Thursday).”
Warren was led by junior quarterback Jordan Malikin, completing 12 of 24 passes for 67 yards and an interception.
Junior running back Keith Jaeckels had 25 yards on five carries, while sophomore Jayden Flores carried the ball five times for 19 yards.
Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Boyette led with three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Junior wideout Julian Padin had five receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown pass to Boyette.
The Lancers were led by junior quarterback Grady Long with 228 yards passing (14 for 17) and four TD passes, while junior running back Daniel Moreno led with three touchdowns.
“We’ve been working hard trying to get the offense to click,” Long said. “It just felt like (Thursday) we put it all together and clicked and everyone did their job, and it looked good.
“Our defense has been balling all year.”
Also scoring for La Serna was junior tight end Gavin McCaffer (3-yard touchdown catch), Landon Armenta (39-yeard touchdown catch) and Aiden Casillas (1-yeard touchdown run).
“It’s a great feeling to be playing after we’ve had guys go down and truly it’s time to step up,” Armenta said. “This whole season I’ve been thinking to myself when the time comes you need to be a big player and make big plays. That’s what I tried to do and (Thursday) was a great feeling.”
After La Serna took its opening drive for a touchdown to lead, 7-0, with a 24-yard pass from Long to Moreno, the Bears advanced deep into Lancers territory to the 33-yard line but stalled there.
Warren senior receiver Javier Valle highlighted the drive with a 9-yard pass from Malikin.
The drive ended on an incomplete pass for Padin.
After La Serna scored again early in the second quarter with a 3-yard run by Moreno for the 14-0 lead, the Bears second drive stalled at their own 30-yard line after a short 6-yard pass to Padin.
For the third consecutive possession, the Lancers scored for the 21-0 lead as Long tossed a short pass to Moreno for his third TD.
Warren started its third possession at its own 34-yard line and after a 6-yard and 1-yard run by Flores to reach midfield, Malikin threw a pass that was intercepted by La Serna’s Jordan Bonilla to stall another Bears drive.
McCaffer capped off the drive with a 1-yard TD pass from Long for the 28-0 lead with less than a minute left in the half.
Warren started the second half which ended with its third punt in its first five possessions of the game.
Long threw his fourth TD pass of the game to Armenta (39 yards) for the 35-0 lead at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter.
On the ensuing possession for the Bears, an electrifying play got them on the scoreboard.
A double pass from behind the line of scrimmage from Malikin to Padin, who heaved a long pass to Boyette, who got behind the La Serna defense by a couple steps for a 75-yard touchdown reception with 4:37 left in the third quarter. The Bears trailed, 35-7.
The Bears defense finally held La Serna on two consecutive drives resulting in punts, but the Lancers managed to score one final touchdown late in the fourth quarter with senior running back Aiden Casillas rushing five times, scoring on a 1-yard run over the middle for the 42-7 final.
Downey wins big over Millikan, 55-7
The Vikings improved to 3-0 on the season with a dominating performance over the Rams in their first home game of their nonleague schedule last Friday night (September 5).
Senior quarterback Oscar Rios had another big night for Downey with a near perfect night of passing with 266 yards (14 for 16), three touchdowns through the air and rushed for 74 yards and a TD and also converted a two-point conversion run.
Seven players ran for a game-high 223 yards. Gavin Ingram rushed for 49 yards and two touchdowns (10 carries), freshman quarterback Chase Watkins had 48 yards (4 carries) and a touchdown pass, senior Xavier Rivas ran for 31 yards and a TD (4 carries), senior Elijah Rincon had four yards and sophomores Justin Rubio and Jayden Diaz ran for 11 and six yards, respectively.
Junior wide receiver Damani Porras had a game-high 201 yards on nine receptions and two scores and seniors Gael Flores and Jacob Trevizu caught two passes each for 33 and 24 yards, respectively. Both scored a touchdown. Senior receiver Cameron Vasquez caught two passes for 23 yards and Ingram caught one pass for 16 yards.
The defense shined with three interceptions, which were led by two from sophomore defensive back Kingston Fasavalu with 102 return yards and Porras with one.
Trevizu led with 6 solo tackles and one assist (7 total), followed by senior inside linebacker Oscar Aguilar with 5 solo tackles and 4 assists (9 total), senior ILB Aidan Gomez with 5 tackles and 2 assists (7 total) and junior ILB Gavin Chapman with 3 tackles and 5 assists (8 total).
Calvary Chapel wins big over Magnolia Science Academy, 80-0
The Grizzlies (2-0) exploded for 80 points in their first league game last Friday (September 5) against Magnolia Science Academy, which is in its first year of organized football.
Leading the way was running back Gilbert Samano with six touchdowns. The junior, who rushed for 43 yards on five carries and five TDs, also scored on a kickoff return.
Junior wide receiver Uriah Figueroa scored three touchdowns - rushing, receiving and an interception return. He carried the ball twice for 49 yards and caught two passes for 44 yards and returned a punt for 19 yards for 112 total.
Senior receiver Matthew Avila caught two passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Freshman quarterback Jonathan Silva was 5 for 7 for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Samano led the defense with six solo tackles and three assists, while Avila had four tackles and four assists.
The Grizzlies will travel to California Lutheran for a 7 pm game Friday (Sept. 12).
PMA loses close one to Trabuco Hills, 29-20
After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams combined for 34 points in the second quarter, with Trabuco leading with 22 points.
PMA, which started the season with a big win over Sierra Vista of Las Vegas, 34-20, has since lost two straight to Crean Lutheran, 42-10, and Trabuco Hills.
Leading the way for the Warriors was senior DeMari Nunley with two touchdowns and a rushing score by junior running back Le’Allyn (AJ) Monroe.
Nunley caught a 12-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Jassi Williams in the second quarter. That was followed by a 50-yard touchdown pass from Williams, also in the second quarter.
Monroe finished the scoring in the third quarter with a 40-yard run.