September 16, 2021
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on Twitter
It’s very rare that the annual Mayor’s Cup football game pitting city rivals John Glenn High and Norwalk High would see both teams come in with winning records. It’s also somewhat rare that the contest, once dubbed ‘The Big Game’ would be played in September.
But that’s what will occur tonight when the Eagles, sitting at 2-1, host their friends by day, but enemies on this night, who come in at 3-1. This will be the earliest in the season in over 20 years that the game will be played. From 2016-2018, the contest was held anywhere from Sept. 23-Sept. 29, and before that, the game was played on Oct. 10, 2008. Norwalk has won three straight games by a combined score of 152-26, including a 62-20 win at South East High on Sept. 10. The Lancers have revitalized their double-wing offense, led by junior running back David Herrera (60 carries, 653 yards, 10 touchdowns) and senior running back Jonathan Goodloe (46 carries, 597 yards, five touchdowns). As a team, Norwalk already has 1,619 yards on the ground with 22 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Glenn’s brief two-game winning streak was snapped by Bonita Vista High last Friday, 41-6, and boast their own star running back in senior Iona Young, who has scored four touchdowns in the two victories. However, when it comes to the overall season-series, Norwalk clearly dominates. Since 1964, with the 1965 and 1982 seasons unknown, the Lancers have won 37 of the 54 games. Norwalk had gone on a 15-game winning streak from 2003-2017 which included six shutouts and six straight games of scoring over 50 points. But the Eagles have taken the last two games, 48-7 in 2018 and 20-7 in 2019.
In other football action, with the possibility of some games being cancelled or switched to a different day after press time because of the Covid situation or to accommodate the lack of high school football officials, Artesia High (0-3) hosted Western High (2-2) on Sept. 16. Artesia was blanked by Marquez High 35-0 last Friday and has scored just one touchdown this season while Western snapped a two-game skid with a 28-24 win against Esperanza High last week. Western quarterback Anthony Luna has passed for 936 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. His favorite targets are Drew Faulkner (31 receptions, 366 yards, two touchdowns), Tywon Mitchell (21 receptions, 167 yards) and Michael Sutton -Shy (13 receptions, 291 yards, three touchdowns).
Cerritos High (2-2) at Troy High (3-1)-The Dons ended a two-game losing streak and an eight-quarter scoreless streak when they got by Ocean View High 14-6 last Thursday. Cerritos got an eight-yard touchdown run by senior running back Connor Defrain and a one-yard run by junior running back Quincy Monreal. The strength in the Cerritos offense comes from senior quarterback David Sagun, who has passed for 327 yards. Troy, which defeated Rancho Alamitos High 49-3 last week, has outscored their opponents 141-3 in its three wins.
Sunny Hills High (2-2) @ Gahr High (0-2)-It figures to be another tough battle for the Gladiators who have been outscored 92-0 in their two games played this season. Sunny Hills has been alternating wins and losses and was on the short end of a 40-37 decision at Brea Olinda High last week following a two-point victory the previous week.
La Mirada High (3-1) vs. Foothill High (3-0) @ Tustin High-Probably the best matchup of area teams will come from Orange County when the Matadores hope to improve on their three-game winning streak. La Mirada rallied for a 27-26 road win at Millikan High last week after trailing 17-6 at the half and 20-13 entering the fourth quarter. Senior running back Edward Laffere scored on runs of four and five yards respectively and leads the team with 409 yards on 62 carries and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback Nehuel Garcia has thrown for 738 yards and eight touchdowns, including an eight-yard strike to junior wide receiver Dillon Nichols. Garcia also scored from a yard out.
Foothill last played on Sept. 2 and defeated Sonora High 38-6. Three quarterbacks have combined to complete 42 of 70 passes for 696 yards and eight touchdowns. Christian Carreras leads the running attack with 205 yards on 27 carries and a pair of touchdowns while Austin Overn has hauled in 12 passes for 338 yards and half a dozen touchdowns.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Artesia opened 605 League play splitting a pair of matches. The Pioneers (3-6 overall, 1-1 in league) swept Glenn last Friday before falling to Cerritos 25-11, 25-10, 25-20 this past Tuesday. Artesia hosts Oxford Academy today and Whitney High on Tuesday. Cerritos (6-2, 2-0), which swept Oxford Academy in the league opener last Thursday, travelled to Whitney on Sept. 16 and will participate in the Bellflower-Valley Christian Tournament today and Saturday before entertaining Pioneer High on Tuesday.
Gahr began San Gabriel Valley League action this past Tuesday with a four-set loss to Downey High to fall to 2-4 on the season. The Lady Gladiators hosted Dominguez High on Sept. 16 and will also be in the Bellflower-Valley Christian Tournament before hosting Lynwood High on Tuesday. Gahr will also visit Warren High on Thursday.
La Mirada picked up its first two wins of the season in the playoffs of the Kennedy Tournament last Saturday, sweeping St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy and Garden Grove High. The Lady Matadores (2-11) began Suburban League action against Bellflower High on Sept. 16.
Valley Christian went 3-1 in the Kennedy Tournament to improve to 9-7 as it hosted Maranatha High on Sept. 16 in the Olympic League opener. The Lady Defenders, after competing in their own tournament today and Saturday, will entertain Heritage Christian High on Tuesday and travel to Village Christian High on Thursday.
CROSS COUNTRY
The first 605 League cluster meet of the season took place this past Wednesday with Cerritos coming away victorious on both sides. The Cerritos boys garnered 25 points, easily defeating Oxford Academy by 23 points. Whitney finished in third place with 62 points while Glenn came in fourth place with 114 points. Whitney senior Lorenzo Rodriguez-Boix was the overall winner with a time of 16:07. The next three spots would be occupied by Cerritos seniors Michael Rafael (16:49), Andrew Hwang (16:50) and Bryce Hojo (17:03). Cerritos senior Rythwik Salhotra came in sixth place at 17:13 while senior Gary Zong rounded out the top 10 for the Dons with a time of 18:25.
Whitney junior Agam Makkar (18:29), freshman Ethan Choi (18:33) and junior Colin Choi (18:45) would occupy spots 12-14 while Glenn’s top runner was junior Javier Reynoso, who finished 15th with a time of 19:00. The lone Artesia harrier was senior Fernando Gonzalez, who came in 19th at 19:19.
Prior to the boys running, it was a short race for the girls as 22 runners from five schools competed. Cerritos had five runners finish within the top eight spots to earn 20 points while Whitney had 47 points and Oxford Academy 57 points. Sophomore Tatianna Chavez (19:33) and juniors Sydney Romero (20:39) and Sofia Padilla (20:44) took the first three positions while Whitney junior Ella Centeno came in fifth place at 21:44. She was followed by Cerritos sophomore Robin Chong (21:52), Whitney junior Layla Lacorte (22:17) and Cerritos freshman Anna Field (22:41).
Artesia had two runners with senior Lizbeth Ortega finishing in 17th place with a time of 24:23 and junior Fatima Chrishty four spots later with a time of 25:39.
Just one week earlier, Cerritos dominated the ABC District meet as the boys collected 24 points to easily beat Gahr by 18 points and Whitney by 35 points. Artesia did not field a boys or a girls team. Rafael had the best time out of 21 runners at 16:41 while Rodriguez-Boix came in second at 16:49. The next three spots were occupied by Hwang (17:11), Hojo (17:39) and Salhotra (18:01).
Gahr senior Omar Garcia (18:04) came in sixth place while teammates sophomore Baron Martinez (18:08), and seniors Ritish Bagga (18:45) and Jonathan Juarez (18:56) took the next three spots. The top 10 was rounded out by Makkar, who had a time of 19:01.
The Cerritos girls earned 27 points as five runners finished within the top 10 while Gahr had four runners in the top nine to finish with 32 points. The two schools alternated the top six spots, led by Chavez (20:26) and followed by senior Natalyn Membreno (21:30), Romero (21:41), junior Alexa Canchola (21:46), Padilla (21:50) and junior Edrianna-Jo Simbol (21:54).
The top runner for Whitney was Lacorte, who had a time of 22:27 before Field followed at 22:49. The last two of the top 10 were Gahr senior Kirsten Song (22:54) and Chong (23:18).
