Sports Briefs: Football regular seasons begin Friday for Downey, Warren

DOWNEY – The Downey High School football team will host the Dominguez Dons tonight in the S.G.V.L. opener for both schools. 

Downey finished their preseason schedule with a record of 4-1 and Dominguez enters tonight’s game with a record of 1-4. Downey is coming off their bye week where several key players have rested up and gotten healthy.

Downey defeated San Pedro at San Pedro 27-21 on 8/26, was defeated by Hart at Downey 30-20 on 9/2, defeated Burbank at Downey 7-6 on 9/9, defeated Millikan at Millikan 48-21 on 9/16 and defeated Chino Hills at Downey 42-22 on 9/23.

Thus far, Viking quarterback Trevor Hill has completed 69/130 pass attempts for 860 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Hill is averaging 172 yards passing a game. 

Downey running backs have carried the ball 181 times and have accumulated 1,337 yards on the ground. The Vikings average 267.4 yards rushing per game and 7.4 yards per attempt. Emari Demercado has carried the ball 53 times for 454 yards, Baraq Ross has carried the ball 49 times for 395 yards and Asfunso Elam has carried the ball 23 times for 197 yards. 

All three Downey running backs are averaging over eight yards per carry, respectively. 

The Downey receivers have caught 70 passes for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. Viking receivers have averaged 188 yards receiving a game and 13.4 yards per catch. Joseph Alex has 12 catches for 146 yards, Chris Atkins has 11 catches for 166 yards and Tony Ramirez has 10 catches for 145 yards.

The Viking defense has been led by Malcom Perry’s 51 tackles (34 solo), Michael Cabrera’s 48 tackles (21 solo) and Daniel Chavez’s 38 tackles (20 solo). Head coach Jack Williams, his staff and players are looking forward to the start of league play.  

■ The Warren High School football team will travel to Paramount tonight for the S.G.V.L. opener for both schools. 

Warren finished their preseason schedule with a record of 0-4-1 and Paramount enters tonight’s game with a record of 3-2. Warren is coming off their bye week where several key players have rested up and gotten healthy.

Warren was defeated by Don Lugo at Don Lugo 18-0 on 8/26, tied Kaiser at Warren 15-15 on 9/2, was defeated by Buena Park 42-0 at Warren on 9/9, was defeated by Lakewood at Warren 28-22 on 9/16 and was defeated by St. Paul at St. Paul 37-27 on 9/23.

Thus far, Bear quarterback Chris Venegas has completed 54/120 pass attempts for 640 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Venegas is averaging 128 yards passing a game. 

Warren running backs have carried the ball 133 times and have accumulated 614 yards on the ground. The Bears average 122.8 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per attempt. Sebastian Valencia has carried the ball 33 times for 217 yards, Nikko Fierro-Tuala has carried the ball 28 times for 94 yards and Jordan Mayes has carried the ball 23 times for 131 yards. Valencia is averaging 6.6 yards per carry, Tuala is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and Mayes is averaging 5.7 yards per carry, respectively. 

The Warren receivers have caught 56 passes for 671 yards and five touchdowns. Bear receivers have averaged 134.2 yards receiving a game and 12 yards per catch. Jordan Mayes has 17 catches for 201 yards, Robbie Colenzo has 14 catches for 196 yards and Sebastian Valencia has six catches for 79 yards.

The Bear defense has been led by Jorge Valderrama’s 75 tackles (45 solo), Donovan Taylor’s 40 tackles (24 solo) and Sirahn Fields’ 39 tackles (23 solo). 
Head coach Raul Lara, his staff and players are looking forward to the start of league play.  

■ The Downey High School girls’ volleyball team currently has an overall record of 5-12 and are 3-1 in S.G.V.L. play. 

Downey defeated Dominguez at Downey in three sets 25-6, 25-3 and 25-6 on Sept. 22nd, defeated Lynwood at Lynwood in three sets on Sept. 27, defeated cross-town rival Warren at Downey in four sets 25-15, 25-14, 23-25 and 25-19 on Sept. 29 and were defeated by Gahr at Downey in three sets 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19 on Tuesday.

Last Thursday’s game against Warren at Downey was the “Dig Pink” game to promote breast cancer awareness. The Donna Boose Gymnasium on the campus of Downey High School was “Pinked Out” for the game. The two teams will play again at Warren on Oct. 18th in the much anticipated rematch. 

Warren is currently 4-9 overall and 0-3 in S.G.V.L. play. Warren was defeated by Paramount at Paramount in four sets 25-19, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-18 on Sept. 22nd, was defeated by Gahr in five sets 21-25, 23-25, 25-10, 25-19 and 15-12 on Sept. 27th and was defeated by Downey in four sets on Sept. 29th. 

The Lady Vikings traveled to Paramount yesterday (score unavailable at press time), will travel to Dominguez next Tuesday and will host Lynwood next Thursday. Coach McCarthy, his staff and players are looking forward to the second round of league play and a potential C.I.F. playoff spot.

■ The city of Downey middle school sport’s first rotation of football and girls’ volleyball has completed four of six competitions and will conclude its last game next Wednesday, Oct. 12, when Griffiths travels to Doty and Stauffer travels to Sussman. 

The last game is a make-up game that was re-scheduled from the 9/26 games (due to heat). 

On Monday, Sussman traveled to Doty and Stauffer traveled to Griffiths. In eighth grade football, Doty and Sussman played to an 8-8 tie after double overtime. In seventh grade football, Doty defeated Sussman 20-0 and in sixth grade football Sussman defeated Doty 7-6.
Doty’s eighth grade girls’ volleyball team defeated Sussman in three sets 22-20, 19-21 and 15-7.

In seventh grade girls’ volleyball, Doty defeated Sussman 21-18 and 21-11 and Doty’s sixth grade girls defeated Sussman in three sets 21-12, 12-21 and 15-3.

At Griffiths, Stauffer’s eighth grade football team defeated Griffiths 14-6, Stauffer’s seventh grade football team defeated Griffiths 13-7 and Griffiths’ sixth grade football team defeated Stauffer 27-0.

In eighth grade girls’ volleyball, Griffiths defeated Stauffer 21-18 and 21-11, in seventh grade volleyball Stauffer defeated Griffiths 21-9 and 21-13 and in sixth grade girls’ volleyball Griffiths defeated Stauffer 21-14 and 21-5.

In eighth grade football, Sussman is currently 3-0-1, Doty is 2-1-1, Stauffer is 2-2 and Griffiths is 0-4. In seventh grade football, Doty is currently 4-0, Sussman is 2-2, Stauffer is 2-2 and Griffiths is 0-4. In sixth grade football, Stauffer is 3-1, Sussman is 3-1, Griffiths is 2-2 and Doty is 0-4.

In eighth grade girls’ volleyball, Doty is 4-0, Sussman is 2-2, Stauffer is 1-3 and Griffiths is 1-3. In seventh grade girls’ volleyball, Doty is 4-0, Stauffer is 2-2, Griffiths is 1-3 and Sussman is 1-3. In sixth grade girls’ volleyball, Doty is 4-0, Griffiths is 4-0, Stauffer is 0-4 and Sussman is 0-4.