WEEK THREE FOOTBALL – Pair of winning, losing streaks end as Valley Christian stymies Cerritos again

Cerritos High senior running back Labrenton Wilson is tackled by senior linebacker Cole Hefner (32) and junior linebacker Sam Melcher (11) of Valley Christian High midway through the second quarter in last Friday night’s game at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium. V.C. defeated Cerritos 42-23. PHOTO BY STEVE FERICEAN.

By Loren Kopff

@LorenKopff on X

The big question for the Cerritos High football team was how it was going to end a four-game losing streak against Valley Christian High dating back to 2013 and extend its 2025 two-game winning streak. The bigger question for V.C. was how it was going to snap its two-game skid without the services of its leading rusher, one of its two quarterbacks and one of its top receivers.

Junior quarterback Graham Lunzer answered the latter question as the transfer from St. John Bosco High accounted for all six touchdowns as the Defenders blitzed Cerritos once again, this time in a 42-23 victory last Friday night at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium.

Last season, V.C. doubled up the Dons 28-14 on the other side of the 605 freeway in the first meeting between the city schools since 2015. In the five games between the two programs, V.C. has won by an average of 40-17.

“I think part of it is we get really hyped for this game,” said V.C. head coach Brendan Chambers. “One thing we talked about is we want to try to be the best team in Cerritos. We beat Gahr [earlier this season] and we had the chance to beat Cerritos both years in a row. Last year we came out firing on all cylinders; got a lead and was able to hold that lead. Tonight, it was a battle. When we got down [early], I thought uh oh, what’s going to happen here? But our seniors responded well and just put four quarters of football together.”

Watching the game on the V.C. sideline and unavailable to play were senior running back Lucas Witt (72 yards on 25 carries), senior wide receiver Dylan Teays (nine receptions, 45 yards and a touchdown) and junior quarterback Liam Sweeney (11 completions for 161 yards and a touchdown).

With a depleted rushing attack and missing one of his favorite targets, Lunzer silenced any doubters by completing 23 of 34 passes for 275 yards and a pair of scores and adding 36 yards on 11 carries with four touchdowns.

“Graham played a heck of a game tonight,” said Chambers. “So, we kind of switched to a no huddle [offense] to kind of allow what the Cerritos defense was in; try to get the best call available. He’s doing a great job, making sure the protection is set the right way, reading the defense and knowing when to scramble. He had some big runs for us. We tried to limit that just because our other quarterback is down. But when he does scramble, he does a great job of it.”

“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know he threw the ball so well,” said Cerritos head coach Demel Franklin. “Like, he threw the ball very, very well. On film, I didn’t see it. But he was as good as they say he is. And he can run.”

After holding the Defenders on downs to begin the game, Cerritos opened the scoring when senior quarterback Justin Sagun found senior wide receiver Labrenton Wilson for 36 yards and a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game. Four plays later, on the ensuing drive, Lunzer scored from seven yards out to tie the game.

On the second play of that drive, Lunzer was sacked by senior Bailey Crawford for a six-yard loss. But he immediately responded by finding senior wide receiver Oliver Boateng for a 34-yard connection leading to the touchdown.

Both teams traded punts and when Cerritos got the ball back for the third time in the quarter, Wilson busted loose for a 42-yard touchdown run. But the Defenders answered back for the second straight time and ended a 12-play, 33-yard drive with a Lunzer two-yard score. The Dons (2-2) hurt themselves with a roughing the passer call at their own 30-yard line and later an offsides infraction on fourth and four from the nine-yard line.

Cerritos bounced back and took its third lead with 4:11 left in the half when senior Mateo Arancibia booted a 30-yard field goal after two straight incomplete passes from Sagun. At this point, the hosts were up 21-17, having gained 170 yards on 21 plays. But that’s as good as it would get for Cerritos as Lunzer took his team from the 32-yard line and immediately found senior wide receiver Max Douglas for an 18-yard pass play. Then on third and seven, he found senior Cole Hefner for 19 yards, and following a personal foul penalty on Cerritos, the Defenders (2-2) took the lead for good when Lunzer tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Tyson McNeese with 59 seconds left in the half.

“We were able to run the ball,” said Franklin of the half. “We had big plays, the holes were there, and Wilson was there. In the second half, it seemed like [V.C.] was sending everybody. I got pass happy and threw too much. I should have kept running the ball. That’s 100,000 percent on me. I should have kept to what we were doing.”

The late touchdown in the half proved to be the turning point in the game because the Defenders would recover an onside kick to begin the second half, drive 46 yards on nine plays and get a 10-yard touchdown run from Lunzer with exactly four minutes gone. Cerritos bounced back to end a 10-play, 50-yard drive with a 26-yard uncontested run from Sagun on fourth and one, making it 28-23 with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter. The play was designed to be a sneak, but the offensive line opened enough of a hole for Sagun to break through.

“That was a huge momentum [swing] because we were already licking our wounds, getting one yard and figuring out how to manufacture points,” said Franklin. “So, the fact that he slid through the opening and ran it in was enormous, absolutely enormous.”

But the fourth quarter would be all V.C. and it began on the first play with Boateng hauling in a 42-yard pass from Lunzer to increase the lead to 35-23. The Dons would then gain one yard on nine plays as Sagun was incomplete on five of seven passes on the drive. That led to the Defenders taking 6:42 off the clock, rushing eight times and passing twice and gaining 54 yards on the drive, which ended with a Lunzer two-yard sneak. To add insult to injury, and with reserves in the game for the Dons, senior safety Sean Bouma had an interception with 20 seconds left in the game.

Lunzer found six different targets with Boateng hauling in eight receptions for 108 yards while junior wide receiver Byron Louis and Douglas each caught four passes for 59 and 56 yards, respectively.

“Oh, he’s been huge for us, both sides of the football playing outside safety and playing the receiver for us,” said Chambers of Boateng. “The progression he’s made from his junior year to his senior year is drastic. We’re trying to get the football to him on the offensive side of the ball; trying to call plays designed for him.”

Hefner led V.C. with 10 tackles while senior linemen Teddy Dobmeier and Isaac Morales each had four tackles.

“Overall, it was just a great performance,” said Chambers. “The receivers caught all the passes that were near [Lunzer], which was huge for us as well. If you would have told me we were going to score that many points against Cerritos, I would have called you crazy before the game. But this was a heck of a job by the team overall.”

Sagun completed half of his 14 passes for 75 yards and rushed eight times for 77 yards while Wilson gained 76 yards on nine rushes and caught three passes for 52 yards. Senior Tyler Ky led the defense with seven tackles while four other players all had half a dozen tackles.

Both teams had games played on Sept. 18 with Cerritos facing Canyon High at Fred Kelly Stadium on the El Modena High campus while V.C. went to Clark Field in Lakewood to play St. Anthony High.