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By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Girls flag football was introduced to the CIF-Southern Section last fall and while a handful of schools participated, it was more of a trial run with no postseason. This season, there were 196 Southern Section schools that fielded a team with 144 advancing to the first ever CIF-SS divisional playoffs.
One of those teams is Artesia High, which defeated Montclair High 31-6 in a Division 5 first round game this past Tuesday. The Pioneers improved to 11-5 and will visit Bishop Montgomery High on Saturday,
“This season has been so much fun,” said Artesia head coach Joe Veach. “Most of these girls didn’t know what a first down was when we first got started; they didn’t know about extra points. So we literally started from scratch. To see where we are right now as a team compared to the first game they ever played…it’s a completely different team.”
Artesia, the 605 League champions, wasted little time getting the first points of the game as sophomore running back Yuliana Ortiz darted 53 yards on the second play of the game. After going three and out on its next possession, the Pioneers went up 12-0 when sophomore quarterback Adela Saucedo tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to senior Kaleyse Foster. The drive was set up when sophomore defensive back Jershiel Muth picked off Navey Lopez at the Artesia 15-yard line.
The score remained 12-0 until 18.5 seconds remained in the first half when Saucedo connected with senior wide receiver LaNiya Clark for a 20-yard score. The lone breakdown of Artesia’s defense in the game came on the third play of the second half when Lopez found Aysia Rosas for a 42-yard touchdown play. Artesia has shutout four opponents and allowed less than 10 points seven other times, including the Montclair game.
“I think our defense is really strong,” said Veach. “We play good defense; we have really good athletes that are put into places to make plays, and we try to get our best seven athletes on the field the whole game. So, I think our defense is probably our strong suit, but we’ve really started to score some points.”
Following the touchdown by the Cavaliers, Saucedo was back at it, this time finding senior Natalia Gomez for a short five-yard touchdown pass. Then four plays later, senior linebacker Melissa Ornelas had an interception at the 32-yard line, which led to the final score of the game, a three-yard pass from Saucedo to senior wide receiver Alea Medina. For added measure, junior defensive back Stefani Antonio had the third interception by the defense.
Saucedo was 10 of 15 for 88 yards with Foster catching four of those for 25 yards while Ortiz gained 76 yards on six carries and senior Keiasja Carbins another 48 yards on three carries.
“Yuli Ortiz at running back is…with the ball in her hand, we don’t have anyone better with the ball in her hand,” said Veach. “Yuli is so elusive and she’s so short; low to the ground, she moves her hips and changes her directions. Once she got into open space, I was on the sideline saying, ‘they’re not going to catch her’.”
The only other area team to advance to the postseason was Gahr High, which nipped North Torrance High 26-25 this past Tuesday in Division 4 action. The Gladiators went 13-5 in the regular season and finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Gateway League with Bellflower High and Mayfair High, all with 5-3 records. They will host second seeded Fullerton High on Saturday. Gahr is one of two area schools that fielded a girls flag football team last season, going 1-6-1 with the lone win at La Mirada High.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The CIF-SS first round playoffs began this past Wednesday with Valley Christian High travelling to Thousand Oaks High in Division 2 action. Four other area schools began their quest for a divisional championship on Oct. 24, beginning with a pair of 605 League city rivals competing in Division 5. Cerritos High (18-11, 8-2) was the second place team and drew a road contest at Faith Baptist High, the second place representative out of the Heritage League.
Whitney High, which is having a season to remember, enters the playoffs at 22-7 and won all 10 605 League matches. Under the old format, it was automatic that a league champion hosted a first round match. But this season, the Wildcats will be at La Salle High, the second place representative from the Camino Real League.
John Glenn High, which finished the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 2009, went 12-11 overall and grabbed an at-large berth despite a 2-8, fifth place finish in the 605 League. In addition, the Eagles nabbed the second seed in the division as they hosted Santiago High, which tied for second place in the Grove League.
Glenn has not hosted a girls volleyball match since Nov. 9, 1999, when that team defeated Burroughs High in five sets before getting swept by Fullerton High on the road two days later. In 1998, Glenn was swept at home in the first round by Redondo High.
Norwalk High, which went 16-14 overall, 4-4 in the Gateway League and finished in third place, hosted Desert Christian High, the third place representative from the Heritage League, in Division 6 action.
FOOTBALL
605 LEAGUE (games played on Oct. 24)
Pioneer High (4-4, 0-1) @ Artesia (7-1, 1-0)-Artesia is flying high after crushing Glenn 40-6 last Thursday and is having one of its best seasons in program history. The offense is explosive, scoring at least three touchdowns in seven of the eight contests and at least 40 points in four games.
Senior quarterback Charlie Lopez is dangerous with his arm (713 yards, seven touchdowns) and his legs (811 yards, 14 touchdowns). The 21 combined touchdowns from Lopez account for 70 percent of the offensive scores. Senior Julius Padilla, with nearly 200 yards rushing and 107 yards receiving with three combined touchdowns and senior Ahkil Sampson (18 receptions, 368 yards, three touchdowns) are other threats on offense. Those three account for 86 percent of the offense.
Artesia has won six of the last eight meetings dating back to 2015, including last season’s 37-19 contest, and since the 605 League was formed, Pioneer has finished in second place once, which came two seasons ago. But Artesia head coach Connor Crook isn’t taking the Titans lightly.
“Pioneer is going to be tough,” he said. “We watched them when they played Rowland, and they have some dudes as far as their skill players go. [Jose Rojas] is a good player; [Ramon Juarez] has been their coach for years now, so he does a good job. They’re going to well-prepared, and so will we. I think it will be a good game next week.”
Pioneer, on a two-game losing streak, took one on the chin last week, losing to Cerritos 70-14, though it rallied from a 28-0 first quarter deficit to make it 28-14 late in the first half. Before that, the Titans had won four of five games and in those four victories, they have outscored their opponents 208-20. But in the four losses, the combined score has been 191-66.
Entering the Cerritos game, quarterback Amiri Resendiz had thrown for 939 yards and eight touchdowns while Adrian Lopez was leading the rushing attack with 507 yards and five touchdowns.
An Artesia win will set up a first place battle with Cerritos on Oct. 31 with the winner claiming the league title and the loser settling for second place.
Prediction: Artesia 41, Pioneer 21
Cerritos (6-2, 1-0) @ Glenn (1-6, 0-1)-Very little went wrong for Cerritos in the blowout over Pioneer last Thursday as junior Justin Sagun was 17 of 23 for 222 yards and four touchdowns while the Dons gained 255 yards on the ground and senior defensive end Josh Teshome had a defensive touchdown.
After a brief two-game losing streak in the middle of the season, Cerritos is peaking at the right time and enters the contest on a three-game winning streak, scoring 133 points while yielding 45 points.
If there is one thing Glenn will get from this game, and the 2024 season, is that the young players will be gaining tons of playing experience for next season and beyond. The Eagles suited up eight juniors, five sophomores, five seniors and three freshmen against Artesia.
“Those coaches are doing a very, very good job with those kids over there,” said Glenn head coach Elijhaa Penny of Cerritos. “They have them executing at a high level of football over there, and I think that’s pretty good for [Cerritos head coach Demel Franklin] and the city and the school. But our kids are going to be the same kids; challenge them very well. We just have to put it together for four quarters.”
Despite the record, the points scored and given up, the lack of players on the team and the combined eight freshmen and sophomores, Penny said he’s been impressed with some of the younger players taking big leaps since the beginning of the season. He cited sophomore running back Sam Reeves, sophomore offensive lineman and linebacker Andre Romo and freshman center and defensive end Jayden Chaverin as players to keep an eye on for the next two seasons.
The Eagles have allowed over 30 points in four straight games and the offense has scored 50 points all season, no more than 12 in any game.
Prediction: Cerritos 63, Glenn 7
GATEWAY LEAGUE
Bellflower (0-8, 0-3) @ La Mirada (2-6, 1-2)-For the eighth straight time, La Mirada lost to longtime rival Mayfair 42-21 last Friday. The Matadores took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter and was down by a possession at the half before the Monsoons scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away. Junior quarterback Santino Garcia passed for 140 yards and a touchdown and has over 1,000 yards for the season.
The Matadores have not faced Bellflower since 2021 when they were members of the former Suburban League and have won 10 straight games over the Buccaneers.
Bellflower has been shutout in four straight games, including 52-0 to Warren High last Friday., and seven times this season. In fact, the Bucs have scored only 18 points all season, six each in the other three games.
A win would keep La Mirada alive for third place and an automatic berth in the playoffs as it ends the regular season at home against third place Warren on Nov. 1
“We look at last year when we played Norwalk,” said La Mirada head coach Lucas Mealy. “We were down 13-0 in a blink of an eye. Obviously, Norwalk and Bellflower are two different teams, but Bellflower [won the Mid-Cities League] over Norwalk. To me, you have to play the game on Friday night. You have to go out there and perform for 48 minutes. We’re going to have a good week of practice, come out and do everything to win the game, and then we’ll focus on the week after that when we get to it.”
Prediction: La Mirada 35, Bellflower 7
MID-CITIES LEAGUE
Firebaugh High (5-3, 0-3) @ Gahr (4-4, 2-1)-As expected, the Gladiators crushed Compton Early College 56-6 last Friday to stay within a game of Norwalk and Paramount High for first place. The defense recorded five and half sacks as Gahr has had a roller coaster of a season, losing the first two games, then winning the next two before alternating losses and wins the past four weeks. This will be Gahr’s homecoming game, and the Gladiators have won both meetings with the Falcons by a combined score of 90-8.
Firebaugh, once a laughingstock when the school first fielded a football team in 2008, has set a school record for most wins in a season and will assure itself of the program’s first non-losing season. In 2010, the Falcons went 4-5 and three other times, they went 3-7.
Firebaugh fell to Norwalk 49-12 last Friday as the defense allowed 367 rushing yards. It was the third straight loss in which the Falcons have allowed 146 points. But during the five-game winning streak, they have given up 50 points with a shutout against Torres High.
Prediction: Gahr 31, Firebaugh 14
GAME OF THE WEEK
Paramount (7-1, 3-0) @ Norwalk (7-1, 3-0)-Both teams have all but locked a playoff berth, but the winner will have the inside track to the league title. In Norwalk’s win over Firebaugh, senior running back Ezra Meuller rushed for 186 yards on nine carries and scored five touchdowns while junior running backs Diego Cerritos added 106 yards on four carries and 73 yards on five touches, respectively, with a touchdown each. Cerritos also had a pair of sacks.
For the season, Meuller has gained 1,569 yards and scored 24 times while Cerritos has picked up 1,012 yards and 15 touchdowns. As a team, the Lancers have 3,280 yards on the ground.
Paramount is on a four-game winning streak following a 36-0 loss at Carson High on Sept. 13. In that stretch, the Pirates scored 168 points while yielding 24. They beat Lynwood High last Friday 32-3 as Tyler Goodman rushed for 251 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns while Zechariah Moreno completed three passes for 36 yards. Goodman, who has scored a dozen touchdowns, needs 69 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark. Dae’Jon Massey is another offensive threat with 568 yards on the ground with half a dozen touchdowns.
This is the fourth meeting between the schools in at least 25 years. The last time they met was on Nov. 14, 2014 in the first round of the Southeast Division playoffs. Paramount took that game 18-14. Before that, Norwalk won 33-8 in 2009 and Paramount was victorious, 27-6, in 2008.
Prediction: Norwalk 38, Paramount 28
IRONWOOD LEAGUE
Heritage Christian High (4-4, 0-3) @ Valley Christian (6-2, 1-2)-After an unprecedented six-game winning streak to begin the season, Valley Christian has lost two straight, including a 16-14 decision to Village Christian High last Friday. The game was scoreless in the first half and after the Defenders took a 7-3 lead in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders scored 13 unanswered points. Senior quarterback Austin Abrahams completed 20 of 29 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown while gaining 33 yards on the ground and scored the other touchdown.
The Defenders scored over 25 points in five of the first six games, but in the past two weeks, they have been outscored 58-14.
Heritage Christian is on a three-game losing streak after a 35-0 defeat to Aquinas High last Friday. Two of the four losses by the Warriors have been by one possession while in the four wins, they have scored 155 points and given up single digits each time, including a shutout. V.C. has won 12 of the last 15 meetings, including last season’s 22-21 contest.
Prediction: Valley Christian 35, Heritage Christian 21
Last week’s predictions: 5-1
Season to date: 38-12
