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Cerritos High senior running back Dikshanta Adhikari walks in from five yards out to score the third of his four touchdowns last Friday against Gahr High as the Dons romped to a 37-0 victory, reclaiming the coveted Silver Milk Barrel which goes to the champion of the ABC Unified School District. PHOTO BY JB QUIBRANTAR
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
The Cerritos High football team is singing the same song with the next verse the same as the first. In its season opener at Buena Park High, the Dons won 38-0 as senior running back Dikshanta Adhikari rushed for 109 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns while the Coyotes barely got over 60 yards in offense.
Last Friday night at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium, in the latest chapter of the longstanding city and ABC Unified School District rivalry between Cerritos and Gahr High, it was nearly déjà vu for the black and gold for the second straight week. The Dons carved their way through a porous Gahr defense who was missing key components due to injuries. In the end, Cerritos posted its second best shutout in the rivalry, 38-0.
Cerritos blanked the Gladiators 49-0 in 1986 and in 2000, the Dons won 36-0. Last Friday’s whitewash was the seventh in the rivalry, having done that in 1977, 1978, 1990 and 2004. The win also broke a 23-23 tie between the two in the rivalry as Cerritos has now claimed supremacy in the district for the 16th time, the second in the past three seasons.
“I thought it was going to be a lot worse,” said Cerritos head coach Demel Franklin. “I’m a little disappointed. In the first half, it just took us a little while. We made some halftime adjustments, had some good energy and we did what we had to do.”
“We didn’t play very well,” said Gahr head coach Greg Marshall. “Obviously, I think they’re a little better than we are this year. We were missing some guys, and it really showed. We’re just not deep enough to have a couple of guys out and…we have to try to figure out and put something together this week. I’m not making excuses, but it’s just who we are [right now].”
Missing from Gahr’s lineup was senior linebacker Isaiah Portillo, who separated his shoulder last week against Valley Christian High and will be on the sidelines at least for four weeks. Also absent because of an injury was senior running back and linebacker Dylan Richburg, who should be back in the next week or two, according to Marshall.
Surprising as it was, the game was scoreless in the opening quarter as Gahr had drives end in an interception by junior Labrenten Wilson and a punt while the Dons were stalled on downs at the Gahr 33-yard line. But on the second drive of the night, Cerritos drove to the Gahr 18-yard line before switching sides for the second quarter. Three plays into the new stanza, Adhikari scored from 11 yards out.
“Since last year, we’ve always had that chip on our shoulders,” said Adhikari. “So, we just came and showed it today. We played hard, executed and the scoreboard says 37-0.”
Gahr had 19 yards of offense on 10 plays in the first quarter and it didn’t get much better in the second half as the Gladiators punted after a one-yard drive. With 61 yards to go before their second touchdown, the Dons chewed up nearly five minutes on a nine-play drive. The key highlights were a 14-yard rollout to the right side from junior quarterback Justin Sagun on third and one from the Cerritos 44-yard line, a nine-yard gain from Adhikari on third and four from the Gahr 36-yard line and his six-yard touchdown run with 4:11 left in the opening half.
The Gladiators (0-2) thought they had something going as senior Markell Slaughter gained 33 yards on three straight carries and later added a 10-yard gain. But a fumble was recovered in the end zone from senior defensive back Marnell Smith, and the Dons ran six plays before junior kicker Mateo Arancibia booted a 35-yard field goal as time expired, giving the hosts a 16-0 advantage.
Adhikari was on his way to another triple-digit yardage game with 73 yards on 11 carries while Sagun was staying hot, completing seven of 11 passes for 64 yards. Meanwhile, the defense was holding Gahr to 71 yards on 19 plays.
“I knew they were going to be tired from the start of the game,” said Adhikari. “I knew this was going to be a shutdown game because they don’t condition like us. They get tired. For us to keep running that ball [and] keep moving up the field, it’s a great thing.”
“I’m going to be honest with you,” said Franklin of the rivalry. “Last year, I thought it was just a game. I didn’t understand [the rivalry]. After the game, I was disappointed. I thought we were going to win. But going into this year, there’s so many politics behind the scenes having to play this game.
It didn’t get much better for the Gladiators in the third quarter as they couldn’t capitalize on a fumble, gaining zero yards on their first possession of the half. Then starting at the Gahr 39-yard line, Adhikari got loose for a 44-yard run to move to the 17-yard line. After Gahr was offside, senior running back Josiah Ungos picked up seven yards before Adhikari made it 23-0 with a five-yard score.
The Gladiators responded with their best drive of the night, taking 7:36 off the clock but moving only 21 yards on a combination of runs from Slaughter and senior running back Ja’Shon Wallace. But on fourth and 10, Slaughter gained four yards, and the Dons took advantage of the short field with Adhikari scoring on a 37-yard play on the first play of the fourth quarter. It would be the last time he would touch the ball as he finished with 172 yards on 15 touches. He also caught a pair of passes for 35 yards.
“My performance…it all goes to my team,” said Adhikari. “The line was amazing; great offensive line in front of me. They blocked for me very well. My teammates are really supportive, so to be running behind that is a blessing, for real.”
“That kid coming into [the season], I knew it was going to be a battle for player of the year with him and [senior wide receiver] Ruben Castro,” said Franklin of Adhikari. “They put Markell Slaughter on [Castro] all night and we were getting him in the slot, moving him inside out and just trying to get him the ball. That kid is a fighter. Ruben Castro, you haven’t heard the last from him. He will be heard from. I assure you of that.”
Ungos capped off the game’s scoring with a one-yard run with 3:20 remaining. He would finish with 72 yards on 11 carries while Castro caught eight passes for 85 yards. Sagun and sophomore Alexander Laurin combined to complete 10 of 16 passes for 120 yards. Defensively, junior linebacker Tyler Ky led everyone with seven tackles while junior linebacker Bailey Crawford added five tackles.
“Our defense always comes and shows up,” said Adhikari. “Since last year, they’ve been coming out and showing up. For them to go two games and shutting both of those games down…they’re really talented.”
“I think [the defense tonight] was better because I have to go back from last year,” said Franklin. “I know what [Slaughter] and that offense did to us and for us to make the adjustments and shut it down, I’m happy. But it almost Wasco-like; milk the clock, take as long as you can. Except this time, we were able to help the defense and score some points.”
Slaughter paced the Gladiators with 72 yards on 15 carries while Wallace added 42 yards on 11 carries. Slaughter and junior quarterback Roman Acosta combined to complete three passes for just five yards while senior safety Issac Gutierrez, senior linebacker Evan Lucena and junior safety Malachi Williams all had four tackles.
“I think they’re similar,” said Marshall. “We’re just not as good as we were last year. But they’re good on both sides of the ball.”
This rivalry has been as close as it can be with Cerritos now having a 24-23 edge (the 1975 and 1981 results are unknown). But the Gladiators have dominated the series since 2005, winning all but two meetings. When Gahr stunned the Dons 27-20 last season, Cerritos dropped to 2-5 and it would be the last loss it would have until a 7-6 setback to Wasco High in the CIF State Division 6AA championship game.
“There was some talk of [revenge]; there definitely was,” said Franklin. “We had a lot of kids disappointed. I felt bad for my seniors; I felt I let them down. That was 100 percent on me. So, there was definitely revenge [talk], and we were embarrassed last year.
“That kid, Markell Slaughter is absolutely incredible,” he continued. “He destroyed us last year. So we made a concentrated effort to make sure to lock in on him. We had goals and we didn’t hit them. We wanted to hold him to 50 yards, but 74, I’ll take it.”
Cerritos will visit Portola High on Friday while the Gladiators, who have scored six points in the last six quarters, will travel to Ocean View High, also on Friday.
“I think in the end, we’ll be fine,” said Marshall. “But we just have to learn a lot of lessons on the way. It’s preseason right now for us because we’re young and we have to put some pieces in place. I think we’re going to have to learn to throw the football.”
