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August 7, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
VALLEY CHRISTIAN DEFENDERS
7-3 overall last season, 2-3 in the Ironwood League, fourth place
30-25 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Brendan Chambers (third season, 10-10)
Lost 17 seniors out of 47players from 2024 opening day roster
Last made the playoffs: 2022
Division 9 last season
2025 schedule
Aug. 22 Gahr (8-6 overall last season, Division 13)
Aug. 29 Calvary Chapel Santa Ana (4-7, D. 13)
Sept. 5 Mary Star of the Sea (10-3, D. 12)
Sept. 12 @ Cerritos (8-3, D. 9)
Sept. 18 @ St. Anthony (8-6, D. 10)
Sept. 26 BYE
Oct. 3 @ Capistrano Valley Christian (5-6, D. 11)
Oct. 10 Aquinas (8-3, D. 4)
Oct. 17 Village Christian (5-7, D. 9)
Oct. 24 @ Heritage Christian (4-6, D. 11)
Oct. 30 @ Ontario Christian (6-5, D. 6)
Valley Christian High was feeling good about itself in the first half of last season as one of the best starts in program history was unfolding right in front of them. The Defenders bolted out to a 6-0 start, including doubling up 2023 CIF-Southern Section Division 9 Cerritos High. But as fast as the wins piled up, the losses would soon follow and just like that, V.C. found itself not playing an 11th game.
“I was just really happy for our guys, going through the last two years before that with the struggles,” said V.C. head coach Brendan Chambers of the fast start. “That was our whole goal; we knew league play was going to be very tough and we’re in a very strong league. We thought [that was] our best chance of getting to the playoffs, as our whole mindset was going 5-0 in those first five non-league games and starting off hot. I think that was a culmination of the hard work they put in during the offseason.”
Chambers added that a lot of times when you’re at a smaller school, you tend to start slow because you’re trying to figure out where all the pieces should fit. But with the squad that Chambers had last season, everyone knew where they belonged.
“I think the hardest part for us was nine of the 10 teams we faced went on to make the playoffs,” said Chambers. “Some of them had long runs like Gahr and Baldwin Park. Cerritos was in the same division we were in, and we beat them, which was tough to see as well. When I look back on last season, [the] Cerritos [game] was probably our best football that we played. That was a great team.”
V.C. will begin this season with a smaller team in terms of numbers as 32 are on the opening day roster with 20 of them being seniors.
OFFENSE
Not only did the Defenders race out to six-game winning streak, but they also scored over 40 points in each of the first two games and at least 28 points in three of the next four contests. But V.C. was shutout in two Ironwood League games and averaged just over 25 points for the season.
The offense takes a hit this season, especially in the offensive line as four of the five starting linemen, plus a backup, were among the 17 players who graduated. To add fuel to the fire, quarterback Austin Abrahams who passed for 1,688 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 375 yards with an additional 16 touchdowns graduated.
“Losing all those guys is going to be tough for us,” said Chambers. “We still return a fair amount of receivers…we still have some skill positions and two quarterbacks vying for the job. So, offensively, I think the biggest thing for us is going to be the offensive line.”
Juniors Graham Lunzer, a transfer from St. John Bosco High, and Liam Sweeney (16 of 35 for 84 yards, two interceptions last season) will battle for quarterbacking duties. Neither has an edge on the other as Chambers says both have been great during the seven on seven tournaments.
The top two running backs will be seniors Tyson McNeese (32 carries, 107 yards, one touchdown) and Lucas Witt, who was a running back two seasons ago, then a tight end last season, moves back to the backfield where he carried the ball 21 times in 2024 for 122 yards. Senior Tim O’Conner (10 carries, 96 yards), who played early in the season before he tore his ACL, and junior Blake Butler will also get some carries. O’Conner is waiting to get cleared by doctors.
Without a doubt, the strength on the offensive side will come from its wide receivers, led by seniors Oliver Boateng (five receptions, 61 yards), Sean Bouma (12 receptions. 155 yards, one touchdown) and Dylan Teays (27 receptions, 575 yards, eight touchdowns). Witt will also catch some from time to time as he was V.C.’s leading receiver last season, hauling in 46 passes for 425 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Also in the mix and expecting to get more time will be seniors Max Douglas and Cole Hefner, both of whom caught a pair of passes for a combined 55 yards.
“We have a lot of depth there and we have a lot of guys; second string guys who are coming up from the junior varsity level,” said Chambers. “The toughest part for us this year is a lot of those guys are also playing on the other side of the ball and trying not to wear them out.
“When I look back at it, Dylan had a couple of games in which he was just ginormous for us; just catching the ball and making one person miss on fourth down conversions,” he later said. “I remembered on an end-around, he catches it, breaks off a tackle and goes for a touchdown. But then Sean also had a couple of those [as did] Oliver towards the end of the season. Even the last game of the season, we put Max Douglas out there and he had [a couple of catches] and that was big for us against Ontario Christian.”
While specific positions on the offensive line haven’t been locked down, Chambers believes senior Isaac Morales (right) and Jackson TerKeurst (left) will be the tackles while four players are competing for the three interior spots-seniors Jayden Bailey, Jackson Halter-Caldarella, Zachary Sturm and freshman Rory Brink.
Chambers adds that the linemen are interchangeable, and he is trying to teach that. Morales was a guard in 2023 and a tackle last season while the others ‘have played a mixed bag of positions on the line’ whether playing on the j.v. team or filling in on varsity last season.
DEFENSE
Last season’s defense was one of the best the program has had defensively as it allowed 207 points with Aquinas High the only one scoring over 30 points while six opponents failed to score 20 points including the last four during that six-game winning streak. Chambers said V.C. will run a 4-2-5 with Morales returning as defensive tackle where he had 40 tackles and three sacks last season. He’ll most likely be joined by Halter-Caldarella (22 tackles, six sacks, one interception) at the other tackle spot while the ends will be occupied by senior Jameson Miller (14 tackles) and Douglas (25 tackles).
Hefner (89 tackles, four and a half sacks) and Witt (65 tackles) return as linebackers while Boateng (45 tackles, one interception) and Bouma (36 tackles, one interception) are the top two defensive backs. Teays (11 tackles) is the leading returning cornerback and is slated to be joined by seniors Noah Pelton and Isaiah Ramirez and junior Byron Louis.
Chambers says the strength of the defense is the experience as nine of the 11 players return as only Abrahams and Jayce Shields graduated.
“Some of those offensive linemen did play some interior D-line for last year,” he continued. “Those are guys who are capable of getting the job done.”
SCHEDULE
There will be no rest for the weary at the beginning of the season as the Defenders host a trio of teams that went to the divisional finals, lost in the first round and played in the semifinals last season. V.C. won by 26 points against Gahr High and has won three of the past four meetings with its Artesia Blvd. neighbor. The next week, V.C. faces former Olympic League rival Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana High, a team it had no problems with in a 17-point victory last season. It was the first meeting since V.C. won 21-19 on Nov. 9, 2001.
When the Defenders finally hit the road, they’ll travel less than a mile to face Cerritos at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium, then go to Clark Field in Lakewood to hook up with St. Anthony High. V.C. has not lost to Cerritos in four meetings and the last time they played St. Anthony, it was a 47-6 setback on Aug. 23, 2019.
“It will be fun,” said Chambers of the Gahr game. “It’s always fun to compete against those guys. Two years ago when we hosted them, we lost on the last play of the game. It will be a good test to see where we are in comparison to last year. They always have some athletes as well.
“It’s going to be tough; those first five games are going to be tough,” he later said. “After we get done with Calvary Chapel, [we’re] going to play Mary Star which had a great run in Division 12. They return some of their [top] guys as well. Then going right back after that to play Cerritos, and they want revenge. I know they return a lot of their guys as well. I think it will be good for us to kind of see where we’re at as we enter league play.”
The Defenders had no problems with Capistrano Valley Christian High in last season’s 33-13 victory in which it was 27-0 at the half. But the team’s playoff fate could lie in the next two games, both at home against Aquinas and Village Christian High. The Falcons have outscored the Defenders 140-14 in three games and have lost three straight games against the Crusaders.
Aquinas is still the cream of the crop when it comes to the Ironwood League and is favored to win it again. However, Chambers believes the rest of the league is open and from what he has heard, Ontario Christian has a new coach and a lot of players, including their quarterback, running back and linemen have transferred out. The Knights have been a solid second place team behind Aquinas, but this season, four teams figure to battle for two automatic playoff spots.
“I think Ontario is going to be down a little bit; C.V.C. is going to be similar to what they were last year,” said Chambers. “Village and Heritage [Christian High] will be very similar to how they were last year. This is the first year I’ve come in here and actually said we definitely have a shot to get second place in league.”
HOMECOMING
Last season, V.C. stunned Cerritos for its homecoming game and this season, the Defenders face Mary Star of the Sea High, which advanced to the semifinals. These two teams have not played each other since Aug. 31, 2007, and V.C. came out on top 24-3. Historically, homecoming games have been kind to V.C. as it has won 22 games since 1998. The last homecoming loss for the Defenders came in 2022, a 40-18 decision to Ontario Christian High.
FINAL OUTLOOK
“I’m excited,” said Chambers. “Coming into my third year, a lot of these guys that we have…it’s a big senior class. We’ve had some guys who decided not to play football this year that were returners. They’re going to focus on other sports, but this is the class that I came in with when a lot of these sophomores were playing my first year when I was the head coach here. So it’s kind of exciting to see them go into their senior year. I know they have ambitions to go out there and compete in league and make a postseason run. We’re all eager for that; we’re all wanting that especially with how last season ended.”
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