SPORTS BRIEFS: Warren High wins season-opener

DOWNEY − The Warren High School football team opened their season with a 23-2 win at home against St. Paul Friday night. 

With the win, Warren improved to 1-0. With the loss, St. Paul fell to 1-1. The Bears avenged their 24-15 loss at St. Paul last year. 

Warren traveled to Buena Park (1-1) last night to take on the Coyotes in a special Thursday night game (score unavailable at press time). Buena Park defeated Orange on 8/28 at Buena Park 75-20 and were defeated by Edison on 9/4 at Huntington Beach 38-0. Warren was defeated by the Coyotes 25-0 last season at Warren.

In the St. Paul game, Warren led at the end of the first quarter 6-2. Neither team scored in the second quarter and the score remained 6-2 Warren at halftime. The Bears scored a touchdown and converted the extra point in the third quarter. Warren led 13-2 at the end of the third quarter. The Bears tacked on another ten points in the fourth quarter to seal the 23-2 win.

St. Paul’s passing game completed 8/12 passes for 89 yards. The Swordsmen run game finished with 23 carries for 35 yards. The Bear defense held St. Paul’s running game to less than two yards per carry. Warren’s defense also forced four fumbles and recovered three of them.

In last night’s game, Warren needed to stop Buena Park’s senior quarterback Zach Taylor and sophomore wide receiver Deshaun Harvey. The two have formed a formidable tandem thus far that produces chunks of yardage and big plays. 

Senior linebacker Andrew Mulipola had 12 tackles in his last game and has been a tackling machine in two games for the Coyotes. Coach Raul Lara, his staff and players were looking forward to improving to 2-0 on the young season.  

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The Downey High School football team was defeated by Hart at Newhall 38-14 on Friday night. With the loss, Downey fell to 1-1 on the young season. 

Downey will host Alemany (2-0) of Mission Hills later tonight.

Downey trailed Hart 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Vikings got right back into the game in the second quarter on two Daevon Vigilant touchdowns. The score at halftime was 14-14. Hart pulled away in the third quarter by scoring 17 points. The Indians led 31-14 at the end of the third quarter. Hart tacked on a fourth quarter touchdown and extra point and won 38-14.

The Downey offense was able to move the ball. Junior quarterback Trevor Hill was 8/14 passing for 107 yards and two interceptions. Senior quarterback Rafeeq Rahim II was 3/8 passing for 14 yards and had two interceptions also. The Downey passing game combined to complete 11/22 passes for 121 yards. Vigilant had four catches for 67 yards and senior Hinckley Ropati contributed with three catches for 41 yards. The four Viking interceptions proved too difficult to overcome.

The Viking rushing attack accumulated 242 yards on 35 carries. Downey averaged close to seven yards per carry. Daevon Vigilant led the Vikings with 24 carries for 156 yards. The Vikings finished with 363 yards of total offense. 

Coach Jack Williams, his staff and players are looking forward to playing Alemany later today and earning a “W.”

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Warren High School athletics is in full swing. The fall sports programs have begun and Warren started off the first week of competition by winning four of four games/matches. 

Girls’ tennis accounted for two wins, girls’ volleyball won their first game and football won their first game of the season against St. Paul 23-2.

Boy’s water polo played Tuesday at Warren against Santa Fe and will play in the Kennedy Tournament this weekend. Coach Nichols, his staff and players are looking forward to a competitive season.

Girl’s volleyball is 2-1 after defeating Norwalk at Norwalk Tuesday 26-24, 25-27, 19-25, 25-16 and 15-13 and played Bellflower at Bellflower yesterday (scores unavailable at press time). Coach Lane, his staff and players are looking forward to a solid season.

Girl’s tennis chalked up two wins last week and competed at Lakewood yesterday (scores unavailable at press time). Coach Starksen, her staff and players are consistently league champions and look to continue that streak again this year.

Football won their first game of the season against St. Paul 23-2 last Friday night at Warren. Warren’s victory was their first season opening win in the past six seasons. Coach Raul Lara and his staff have the Bear program moving in the right direction.

Boy’s and girl’s cross country will be competing at the Laguna Hills Invitational tomorrow. The Warren girls’ cross country team competed at this year’s new site for the C.I.F. Finals last Saturday. The varsity girls took first place, the junior varsity girls took third place and the frosh/soph girls’ team also took third place. Coach Waldron, his staff and runners are looking forward to another strong season.

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Former Downey High School student-athletes are excelling at the next level. Downey High School’s class of 2015 are starting to make their marks at their respective colleges and universities. 

Idalis Gonzalez is attending the University of Louisiana at Monroe on a soccer scholarship. Gonzalez was a standout goalkeeper on the Lady Viking soccer team and helped lead the Lady Vikings both on and off the field. 

Charlotte Chavarria is attending Cal State San Bernardino on a soccer scholarship. Chavarria was a striker on the Lady Viking soccer team and was a big reason why the Lady Vikings were co-S.G.V.L. champions last season. 

Gio DeLoera is attending Robert Morris University on a football scholarship. DeLoera was an offensive lineman who created huge holes for running backs Justin Huff and Daevon Vigilant to run through. 

Kimberly Schnars is attending Hope international University on a volleyball scholarship. Schnars was an outside hitter who helped Downey continue their run of successive S.G.V.L. championships. 

Luis Munoz is attending Cal State Northridge on a cross country scholarship. Munoz was a standout runner for Coach Gleason last year.

Brittney Martinez is attending UC Irvine on a cross country scholarship. Martinez was an athlete who excelled in cross country and track and field last season for the Lady Vikings.

Eddie Preciado is attending Capital University on a football scholarship. Preciado was a “Mr. do everything” player for Coach Williams’ football team last year and a big reason why the Vikings played in the C.I.F. Southeast Division championship game.