Vikings extend streak, emerge as league powerhouse in just second year
Downey quarterback Madeline Garcia (32) makes a pass as they play La Mirada in their Gateway League girls flag football game. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
DOWNEY – The Downey High School Flag Football team, in its second year of competition, is off to one of the hottest starts in the area with its 16th win in a row.
The Vikings defeated Mayfair, 54-0, on Wednesday (September 24) to up their overall record to 17-3 and 3-0 in the Gateway league.
Not only winning but winning by wide margins in their current streak.
It was their 10th shutout this season, averaging almost 30 points per game and opened Gateway League action with their largest win of the year, 67-0, over La Mirada (September 17) and last Monday (Sept. 22), they had their second league shutout with another dominating, 45-0 win over Norwalk.
With their third league shutout in a row, the Vikings defeated Mayfair, 54-0, Wednesday (Sept. 24).
“Right now, we are currently on a 16-game win streak that by no means has come easy,” Downey co-coach Charles Lozano said. “We have been challenged by some good teams, and it has really pushed us to stay together and play as one.”
Downey 67, La Mirada 0
Highlighting the game of the week against La Mirada, sophomore quarterback Madeline Garcia led with 309 yards passing for five touchdowns on a perfect 22 for 22. She also rushed for 44 yards and scored two TDs. It was also her fifth game with over 300 yards passing this season.
Garcia talked of her wide receivers saying, “Chloe (Cotton), Mel (Melanie Sanchez), Sophia (Hernandez), Adriana (Maldonado) and La La (Delliah Navarro) are some of my favorite targets because I trust them a lot with the ball, even when (the pass) it’s not placed perfectly, I trust them to catch it.”
Garcia also talked of her ability to throw and run. “I think it puts pressure on the defense a lot because I can throw but I can also run,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be short routes, but I can throw deep as well.”
Garcia is second in the state with 4,527 passing yards (332 completions on 458 attempts) and has a .725 completion percentage and has thrown 47 TDs.
Garcia has also run for 670 yards and scored 13 TDs.
“I do work on my mechanics with my coaches a lot,” added Garcia. “They prepare me mentally and have my back no matter what.”
Cotton led all receivers against La Mirada with a game-high 140 yards with five catches and three touchdowns. Cotton currently is the state number five receiver with 1,542 yards and 15 TDs. She is also a big part of the defense at the defensive back position as she leads with nine interceptions and is second with 28 solo tackles.
“I just put in the work in practice, trying to help my team out and I want to be that person to lead by example,” she said. “Just going out and giving 100 percent is really what is getting me to who I am right now.”
Also in the La Mirada game with multiple TDs was Sanchez with two (7 catches, 80 yards). Navarro caught five passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. She is 11th in state with 1,253 yards.
“I love Maddy,” said Navarro, of her signal caller. “She’s a great quarterback. I love how she reads the defense and reads who is open. Even though it might not be the deepest pass, she’ll get it to you, especially on the outside so they don’t pick it, and we could score.”
Navarro also plays defense, simply saying, “We are very aggressive on defense.”
Also, scoring a touchdown against La Mirada was Hernandez (3 catches, 40 yds).
In double figures in receiving yards for the Vikings was sophomore Lupe Uiagelelei (3 catches, 18 yds.), senior Alana Espe (1 catch, 16 yds) and junior Amaya Hernandez (1 catch, 15 yds.).
Defensively, the Vikings have dominated teams this season. Leading the way against the Matadores was junior linebacker Caroline Cortez with a team-leading seven solo tackles, while junior linebacker Emily Muggleton added four.
Senior Kayla Garcia recorded the only sack of the game for the Vikings. She has 13 on the season.
“We have had some stellar play from our defense over the course of those 16 games,” Lozano said. “They have been very good this year of flying around to the ball and playing together as a unit.”
The Vikings have five regular season games remaining before the CIF-Southern Section playoffs begin, which includes the rival game against Warren, next Wednesday Oct. 1.
This season, the Vikings are aiming for a league title and a deep run in the post season.
“For us, it’s continuing to be disciplined and paying attention to details,” Lozano said. “We know those little things will add up and it’s important for us to continue to do that and it puts us in a better position to be successful down the road, especially against the quality teams that we’re going to be playing.”
Down the road is the first round of the playoffs which begin in the third week of October with the divisions and brackets to be determined.
“Sometimes (the players) can be impressionable, looking at rankings and clippings and things like that,” Lozano added. “I think it’s important that we continue to focus on what’s important and what our goal is and continue to work on our collective effort and work towards our common goal.”
He talked of some of his top receivers saying, “It’s a combination of them being special athletes,” he said. “You look at some of the members of our team like Delliah Navarro, Chloe Cotton, Melanie Sanchez, the list goes on and on. It’s a product of their hard work and them believing in the system that we put in and their day-to-day.”