Downey rolls past Santa Fe to set up rematch

DOWNEY - The Downey High School football team defeated the Santa Fe Chiefs 35-3 last Friday night at Allen Layne Stadium in the semifinal round of the C.I.F. Southeast Division playoffs. With the win, the Vikings (10-3) will get their much anticipated rematch from week two against the La Serna Lancers.The championship game will be played Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton. Santa Fe kicked off to Downey to start the game. Downey scored first at the 4:30 mark on a Jorge Reyna four yard quarterback keeper. The extra point was good and Downey led 7-0. Santa Fe quickly responded by kicking a field goal on their ensuing possession at the 2:07 mark and the Viking lead was cut to 7-3. The Vikings wasted little time on their next possession and increased their lead on a Justin Huff touchdown run at the 1:10 mark of the first quarter. The extra point was good and Downey took a 14-3 lead. The first quarter ended with Downey leading 14-3. The two teams exchanged the ball and field position during the second quarter but neither team scored. The score going into the locker rooms at halftime was 14-3 Downey. The second half started when Downey kicked off to Santa Fe. The Chiefs managed to move the ball on the Downey defense and drove the ball down to the Viking 16 yard line. On the next play, Viking outside linebacker, Tristan Esparza, intercepted his second pass of the game and stopped the Chief drive. Consistent with Downey play this season, the Vikings quickly capitalized on that Chief mistake when Justin Huff raced 90 yards for a score at the 7:19 mark of the third quarter. The extra point was good and Downey took a 21-3 lead. The Vikings managed to stop the next Santa Fe possession and forced the Chiefs to punt. On their ensuing possession, Jorge Reyna connected with Josh Moreno on a 46 yard touchdown strike at the 3:41 mark of the third quarter. The extra point was good and Downey took a commanding 28-3 lead. Downey led 28-3 at the end of the third quarter. Jacob Cook scored the last Viking touchdown at the 5:30 mark of the fourth quarter. The extra point was good and Downey won this game going away by scoring the final 28 points of the game. Jorge Reyna led the Viking passing attack by completing 5/9 passes for 103 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. The Vikings amassed 420 yards on 44 carries, almost ten yards per attempt. The rushing attack was led by Justin Huff's 268 yards on 22 carries, Jorge Reyna's 113 yards on 15 carries, Eric Carrillo's eight yards on three carries, Matthew Gonzalez's seven yards on two carries, Gus Caro's 16 yards on one carry and Tristan Esparza's eight yards on one carry. The receiving corps were led by Josh Moreno's one touchdown catch for 46 yards, Tristan Esparza's one catch for 24 yards, Anthony Mendez's one catch for 17 yards, Justin Huff's one catch for eight yards and Gus Caro's one catch for eight yards. The Viking defense was led by Robert Salazar's two solo and eight assisted tackles, Tristan Esparza's three solo and four assisted tackles and Anthony Florido's one solo and six assisted tackles.

********** Published: November 29, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 33