Sports briefs: tough week for football

DOWNEY - The Warren High School football team lost their season opener last Friday night to South East of South Gate, 35-7.Warren is now 0-1 on the young season. South East kicked the ball off to Warren to start the game. Both teams started the game a little sluggish by going three and out on their first possessions. After their first possession, Warren wasted little time in the first quarter and took a quick 7-0 lead at the 6:54 mark. South East answered right back and scored a touchdown and converted the extra point to even the score at 7. The score at the end of the first quarter was 7-7. Warren looked good after one quarter of play. South East scored at the 9:35 mark of the second quarter and proceeded to convert the PAT. to take a 14-7 lead. The Bears had a golden opportunity at the 3:29 mark to tie the game when Bear safety Moses Alaniz intercepted a Raquan Ford pass at midfield and returned it to the Jaguar three yard line. The Bears appeared poised to score when the ball was fumbled on the next play. South East recovered the fumble and proceeded to move the ball the other way. The Bear defense held the Jaguar offense and the score at halftime remained 14-7, South East. The Jaguars managed to control the time of possession game for a good part of the second half and kept Warren's offense off the field. South East outscored the Bears 21-0 in the second half. South East quarterback Raquan Ford completed 6 of 13 passes for 96 yards and had nine carries for 82 yards and three touchdowns. Jaguar running back Daniel Belton had 11 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown. Senior Dae-quan Howell led the Jaguar receiving corps with four receptions for 66 yards. Warren hopes to even their record tonight against Norwalk (2-0) at Excelsior High School at 7 p.m. Norwalk is coming off an impressive 48-10 victory against Diamond Bar last Friday. *** The Downey High School football team traveled to Vista Murrieta (2-0) last Friday night and came up short in a 66-28 defeat to the Broncos. It was the first loss of the season for the Vikings who beat Mayfair two weeks ago, 38-0. Downey now stands at 1-1 and will host Mira Costa (0-1) tonight at 7 p.m. Downey found themselves trailing at the end of the first quarter, 28-7, and were down at halftime, 45-13. The Vikings scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in the third quarter but were still behind, 59-20, as the third quarter came to a close. Downey did outscore Vista Murrieta, 8-7, in the fourth quarter but ended up falling 66-28. Viking quarterback Jorge Reyna finished the game completing 7 of 18 passes for 207 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. Senior Juwan Pleze completed 2 of 3 passes for 29 yards and one touchdown. The Viking ground game was led by Justin Huff's 11 carries for 107 yards, Jorge Reyna's seven carries for 81 yards and Eric Carrillo's seven carries for 38 yards. Downey's receiving corps were led by Jason Thomas' three catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns and Justin Huff's two catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Viking kicker Mario Galvan was 2/3 on PAT's and accounted for two points. The Viking defense was led by junior Ricky Wong's 10 solo and four assisted tackles, Juwan Pleze's two solo and six assisted tackles, sophomore Darrian Franklin's two solo and four assisted tackles, junior Miguel Esquitin's three solo and two assisted tackles and junior Manny Ramirez's five assisted tackles. Vista Murrieta came into the game ranked 26th nationally and seventh in the state. Downey will look to rebound from this tough loss tonight against Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach at Downey. Mira Costa lost their season opener to Sherman Oaks Notre Name, 42-6, last Friday. *** The Warren High School boys' water polo team started their season with a sweep of all levels at home against Santa Fe on Tuesday. The varsity team won, 18-7, the junior varsity team won, 19-5, and the freshmen team was victorious, 16-3. Coach Nichols was vey pleased with the performances on all three levels. All teams now stand at 1-0 and will continue their respective pre-season schedules. In the varsity game, senior Juan Sixtos led all Bear scorers with four goals, freshman and brother Ignacio Sixtos had three goals, senior Reynaldo Hernandez tallied three goals and sophomore driver Justin Espinoza had two goals. Nichols is very pleased with the improved play of Espinoza, who was on the junior varsity team last year and has quickly demonstrated his ability to compete at the varsity level. Sophomore goalie Matthew Bettencourt had five saves in net for the winning effort. *** Warren High School's boys' cross country team is ranked No. 5 in the current Division I poll, according to CIF rankings released Monday. Coach Miranda and his runners are excited for the season to start and are focused on "getting to state." Junior standout Benjamin Gonzalez leads a Bear squad determined to make the goal of getting to state a reality. In the latest CIF rankings, Arcadia is ranked first followed by Great Oak, Dana Hills, Loyola and Warren. Rankings six through 10 are Crescenta Valley, Newbury Park, Burbank, Fountain Valley and Burroughs of Burbank. *** The Downey Calvary Chapel football team lost their season opener, 41-8, at Western Christian last week. DCC is now 0-1 and will face Albert Einstein Academy on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Downey High School. DCC trailed Western Christian, 27-0, at the end of the first quarter. Western Christian scored 14 points in the second quarter and led at halftime, 41-0. There was no scoring in the third quarter as both teams exchanged the ball and field position. DCC scored a fourth quarter touchdown and were successful on the two point conversion but fell 41-8. *** The latest rankings have been released from the CIF Southern Section in several fall sports. The Downey High School girls' volleyball team is currently ranked No. 7 in the Division 2-AA poll released Monday. The Lady Vikings fell to Valley Christian at Valley Christian on Tuesday night in straight sets 12-25, 21-25 and 20-25. Despite the setback, Coach Sims and her team are looking forward to another highly competitive season and a run in the CIF Division 2-AA playoffs. The Downey High School football team is ranked third after a 66-28 defeat to Vista Murrieta last Friday night. Norwalk is now the CIF Southeast Division No. 1 ranked team. Interestingly, cross-town rival Warren will travel to Excelsior High School this evening to face the Norwalk Lancers. Current C.I.F. Southeast Division football rankings 2-5 include: Diamond Ranch, 2012 C.I.F. Southeast Division champion Downey, Santa Fe and 2012 C.I.F. Southeast Division runner-up La Serna. Rankings six through 10 include La Mirada, West Covina, Bonita, Los Altos and John Muir of Pasadena.

********** Published: Sept. 12, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 22