_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
Cerritos High senior Michael Quibrantar returns the opening kickoff 75 yards against Canyon High last Thursday night, putting the Dons at the 10-yard line to begin the game. Cerritos would get a field goal out of it, then later rallied from 18 points down to defeat Canyon 31-28. PHOTO BY DAVE KY.
September 23, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
ORANGE-Cerritos High began its game against Canyon High last Thursday on fire, then had a disastrous middle part of the game, falling behind by 18 points. But unlike their previous two losses in which they couldn’t make a solid second half comeback, the Dons found a way to silence the home crowd at Fred Kelly Stadium, which houses three other high schools.
Cerritos scored 21 unanswered points in the final 13:26 and the defense thwarted a Canyon attempt in the final minute as the Comanches had driven to the Cerritos 12-yard line. In the end, the Dons walked away with a 31-28 victory, improving to 3-2 in the first of six straight Thursday night games to end the regular season.
The game began with senior Michael Quibrantar returning the opening kickoff 75 yards down the Cerritos sideline. But three attempts inside the 10-yard line, a holding penalty and two straight incomplete passes from senior quarterback Justin Sagun led the visitors settling for a 35-yard field goal from senior Mateo Arancibia.
“Hey, that was unexpected,” said Cerritos head coach Demel Franklin of the opening kickoff. “That was the first time [opponents] have kicked it to Quib. He has been on return all year, and [this was] the first time they kicked it to him. To say I was surprised, I know he was running down the field surprised. That was amazing to set us up. We kind of stubbed our toe getting three; I was a little disappointed, but it kind of got the ball rolling.”
But five plays into Canyon’s opening possession, senior defensive back Labrenton Wilson picked off Alexander Lundsberg at the three-yard line and the Dons took advantage in a big way. They took 7:09 off the clock, ran 13 plays and took a 10-0 lead when Wilson scored on a nine-yard run.
Cerritos High senior quarterback Justin Sagun gets past Troy Branham of Canyon High and scores on a 73-yard touchdown run on the third play of the fourth quarter in last Thursday’s non-league game. Sagun rushed for 91 yards on seven carries and passed for 90 yards in a come from behind 31-28 win. PHOTO BY DAVID PAGE.
_________________________
“For the interception, I saw the quarterback drop back and then I saw him look at [his receiver] and I just broke down and trusted myself on it,” said Wilson. “And then for the touchdown, I knew I had to score. It was just all motivation and everybody pushing.”
“Hey, the pick was enormous over there,” said Franklin. “I couldn’t even see it; I just saw Wilson running away and said, ‘alright, I guess he got the ball’. The drive itself, we pride ourselves on how we run the ball. I got too cute last week and threw the ball too much. I said we’re staying on the ground and my coaches made sure [of that]. That’s what that 13-play was.”
If Cerritos owned the first quarter, running 17 plays and gaining 84 yards to eight and 70 respectively from the Comanches, it was the opposite in the second quarter as Lundsberg and Kellen Rommelfanger were just heating up. On the first play of the stanza, they connected for a 45-yard touchdown play. A fumble four minutes later led to those two hooking up again, this time for 29 yards and just like that, Canyon had a 14-10 lead.
Cerritos was moving down the field for a potential score on the ensuing drive and had gotten to the 23-yard line on nine rushes and a pair of completions from Sagun. However, with 1:09 left in the half, Sagun was picked off by Skee Hitchens at the two-yard line. The Comanches and their passing game did not get flustered, being pinned back in their territory.
___________________
Cerritos High senior Jayden Bagaygay is off to the races as his 39-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Justin Sagun with 2:41 remaining proved to be the game winner against Canyon High last Thursday. Cerritos rallied from a 28-10 deficit to score twice in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY DAVID PAGE.
___________________
Dylan Prochnow hauled in a pair of passes totaling 31 yards, followed by Rommelfanger adding 13 and 22-yard catches. Three plays later, and with two seconds left in the half, Canyon went up 21-10 as Lundsberg found Rommelfanger for 13 yards. Just in the first half alone, Lundsberg was 11 of 19 for 204 yards with Rommelfanger being the recipient of seven passes for 141 yards.
“Who the hell is this team I’m coaching, because this is not what we do,” question Franklin to his team as part of his halftime speech. “We’re better than that. We’ve played defense better than this; we’re physical, we’re fast, we run so much. Now, I’m not going to lie; [Canyon] is a little up tempo and kind of caught us off guard. I didn’t see that on film. That threw us for a loop; we were not prepared for that.”
“He had good technique; good form and knew how to scramble,” said Wilson of Lundsberg. “He had good accuracy. When we were watching film, we had to see who their guys were and who wasn’t their guys. At the same time, we knew we couldn’t come out too cocky and jump over everybody because they have good players all over the field.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Comanches took the second half kickoff and drove 63 yards on 15 plays, eating over seven minutes to go up 28-10 on a two-yard run from James Munro. After that, the pendulum shifted again, and Canyon would run 15 plays the remainder of the contest.
It began with a seven-play, 59-yard drive which ended with a 38-yard touchdown run from senior running back Jayden Bagaygay with 1:26 left in the third quarter. After a Canyon punt, Sagun busted loose for a 73-yard touchdown run on the third play of the fourth quarter and although the extra point was blocked, it was clear there was no stopping the Cerritos running game.
After a three and out, the Dons got the ball at their own 35-yard line and chewed up half the quarter before Sagun found Bagaygay for 39 yards and the game-winner with 2:41 left to play. Sagun then found junior wide receiver Terrence Grissom for the two-point conversion and the three-point lead.
“The second half comeback…in the locker room we were telling each other [we have this] and this is nothing,” said Wilson. “That’s what we did, and we came out on fire.
“We came out and executed,” he later added. “In the first half, we let them get to us, but we came back and bounced back from it. We had some miscommunications on some of the plays and…I told my team we would come back.”
Canyon still had a chance to at least tie the game as Lundsberg completed three of the first four pass attempts in the final drive, the last to Rommelfanger getting to the 12-yard line. But a five-yard loss on a running play and two completions around an incomplete pass for no yards ended the game.
“We fight to end,” said Franklin. “I had a speech on Tuesday, and I said, ‘look, I don’t care what the score is, all these men behind me are going to coach until there’s no time on the clock and you’re going to play until there’s no time on the clock’. So, that’s what you saw tonight.”
While Canyon dominated the passing game to the tune of 322 yards from Lundsberg, plus another 47 yards on five carries, Cerritos owned the rushing side of things. Wilson had 103 yards on 18 carries, Bagaygay 92 yards on 12 carries and Sagun another 91 yards on seven touches. Sagun also completed 10 of 16 passes for 90 yards. Lost in the mix on the offensive side was the fact that the Dons were six of eight on fourth down conversions, making all three attempts in the second half. Two of those three were complements of Canyon penalties.
“That kid is phenomenal,” said Franklin of Lundsberg. On film he’s good, but in person, oh my god, he’s super impressive. Listen, on film, [Rommelfanger] is making good catches, but out here, he’s like Superman. Oh, that kid is good.”
On defense, senior Tyler Ky led the way with eight tackles, one more than senior linebacker Jacob Hoosac and two more than senior Bailey Crawford and junior safety Jordan Ju. Senior Sebastian Soto also had a pair of sacks.
“Listen, we were just saving his legs for when we need them,” said Franklin of Sagun. “I’m not going to run my quarterback in the beginning of the season. Now we’re getting to the middle, and we can open our playbook a little bit.”
Next up for the Dons is a homecoming tilt against Wilson High out of Hacienda Heights, a team that enters with a 1-3 mark. Cerritos has had a roller coaster of a season thus far, scoring over 30 points in all three wins but 37 combined in the two losses.
“I think we’re in a very good spot,” said Franklin. “Up and down, that’s football. [Opponents] practice like we do; we’re going to win some, we’re going to lose some and we’re going to fight all the way through. That’s Cerritos Dons football.”
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.