Leonard Payne of St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy earns football scholarship at Fresno State

DOWNEY – The St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy football team finished their season with an overall record of 3-7 and an Academy League record of 0-3. The Warriors did not qualify for the C.I.F. Division 13 playoffs. 

Leonard Payne, a 6‘3 and 225-lb. defensive lineman, stood out on the field and dominated all nine games he played in for the Warriors this season.

Here are some defensive stats on Payne. He recorded 79 total tackles, 57 of which were solo and 22 assisted. He averaged 8.8 tackles per game and had a total of eight sacks on the season. Payne forced six fumbles and recovered two of them. 

For his efforts, Payne received a scholarship to play football for head coach Jeff Tedford at Fresno State. Payne has only played one season for SPXSMA and has Division One talent. 

In watching his highlights, Payne played as a man amongst boys. His game tapes consistently show him in the offensive backfield disrupting plays. Many of his tackles resulted in opposing players being tossed to the ground with little effort. Several tackles for losses are seen with opposing players getting up slowly due to Payne’s brute strength. 

One video clip showed a quarterback not even make an attempt to go after a bad snap because Payne was going after the ball too. Payne scored a touchdown on the play and the quarterback in question is seen running in a different direction.

Payne was also on the SPXSMA basketball team where he averaged 3 points and 3.8 rebounds in four games. Payne is no longer playing basketball due to his commitment to Fresno State. 
Leonard Payne is certainly a special student-athlete and his future is bright.

WARREN BOYS BASKETBALL: The Warren High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 6-4 and will begin S.G.V.L. play when they host Lynwood on 1/10. 

The Bears recently competed in the Artesia Winter Classic 12/4-9 where they finished with a record of 3-1.

Warren was defeated by Marina 55-53 in their first game on 12/4, defeated Compton Centennial 74-64 in their second game on 12/5, defeated South Gate 63-41 in their third game on 12/7 and defeated Artesia 52-49 in their fourth and final game on 12/9.

The Bears defeated Torrance 62-52 at Torrance on 12/19 and were scheduled to play Viewpoint on Wednesday in their first game of the Holiday Hoops Classic Tournament (score unavailable at press time). 

Warren played Twentynine Palms yesterday, will play Salesian later today and will play a to be determined opponent tomorrow. The Bears are scheduled to play CAMS in their final preseason game on 1/5. Coach Leflore, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of league play.

The Warren High School girls’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 5-5 and will begin S.G.V.L. play when they host Lynwood at Warren on 1/10. The Lady Bears recently competed in the Nike TOC 12/19-22 where they finished with a record of 1-3.

The Lady Bears were defeated by Memorial of Texas 38-34 in their first game on 12/19, defeated Morgan of Utah 48-44 in their second game on 12/20, were defeated by St. Francis of Sacramento 51-39 in their third game on 12/21 and were defeated by Lehi of Utah 42-34 in their fourth and final game on 12/22.

Warren was defeated by Tustin 57-43 on 12/26 in their first game of the Larry Dole/Dan Wiley Holiday Tournament. The Lady Bears are scheduled to play Orange Lutheran at Warren on 1/3 and at El Rancho in their final preseason game on 1/5. 

DOWNEY WRESTLING: The Downey High School wrestling team hosted the Downey Championship Wrestling Tournament Dec. 15-16 inside the Donna Boose Gymnasium. The Vikings placed second overall with 204.5 points and had 10 wrestlers place in the top eight of their respective weight classes. 

Coachella Valley was the tournament champion and finished with 222.5 points, Long Beach Millikan finished third with 183.5 points, Beaumont finished fourth with 156 points and Golden Valley finished fifth with 144 points to round out the top five finishers. More than 20 teams wrestled in the two-day tournament and several Master’s Meet and State Qualifiers competed in various weight classes.

Downey’s Jonathan Prata finished first at 113 pounds and Moses Rubio finished fifth, also at 113 pounds. Dylan Ajtun finished third at 120 pounds and Isaac Medina finished sixth, also at 120 pounds. Roland Dominguez finished first at 126 pounds and Matthew Morales finished second at 132 pounds.

Angel Gonzalez finished sixth at 138 pounds and Sergio Smith finished fourth at 145 pounds. Alex Hernandez finished sixth at 160 pounds and Matthew Ruano finished sixth at 171 pounds. Adrian Guerra finished second at 220 pounds, Elias Velasco finished fifth at 285 pounds and Nykolas Andrade finished seventh, also at 285 pounds.

Coach Soto his proud of how well his wrestlers competed at the Downey Championship Wrestling Tournament and is looking forward to the start of league competition. The Vikings will once again be the team to beat in the San Gabriel Valley League.  

DOWNEY BOYS BASKETBALL: The Downey High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 5-4 and will begin S.G.V.L. play when they host Paramount at Downey on 1/10. 

The Vikings recently competed in the Bellflower Buc Pride Classic Tournament Dec. 11-16 where they finished with a record of 1-3.

Downey defeated South Torrance 62-46 in their first game on 12/11, was defeated by Los Altos of Hacienda Heights 66-52 in their second game on 12/13, was defeated by Bishop Amat 62-50 in their third game on 12/15 and was defeated by Long Beach Millikan 63-56 in their fourth and final game on 12/16.

Downey defeated La Serna 71-63 in overtime on 12/23 and was scheduled to play Temecula Valley in their first game of the Holiday Hoops Classic Tournament on Wednesday (score unavailable at press time). The Vikings are also scheduled to play Cerritos at Staples Center on 1/2, at Marina on 1/3 and Murrieta Mesa at Downey on 1/6 in their final preseason game. Coach Shelton, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of league play.

The Downey High School girls’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 9-1 and will begin S.G.V.L. play when they host Paramount at Downey on 1/10. The Lady Vikings defeated Legacy of South Gate at Legacy 53-39 on 12/14. 

The Lady Vikings played Mays of Atlanta, Georgia in the Holiday Hoops Classic on Wednesday, played Cathedral Classic of San Diego yesterday (scores unavailable at press time) and will play San Marcos later today. Downey is also scheduled to play Woodbridge at Downey on 1/5 and La Canada at La Canada on 1/6 in their final preseason game.