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September 28, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @ LorenKopff on X
When the Artesia High football team hosts Estancia High on Friday in the HMG-Community News Game of the Week, it will be a day short of exactly one year since the Pioneers saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. Last season, a 21-21 halftime score turned into a 30-21 win by Eagles in Costa Mesa.
But things are vastly different this season for the Pioneers, who are coming off a 34-22 loss at San Gabriel High last Friday, and they desperately need a win against the Eagles, who are undefeated in four games. Artesia enters the game at 2-3 and are on a two-game slide. This will also be the first of four straight home games, and the Pioneers are already 2-1 at the friendly confines of Atkins Stadium.
Artesia senior quarterback Joey Peck completed 11 passes for 88 yards with a touchdown against San Gabriel while sophomore Justin Pettus rushed 15 times for 121 yards and scored a touchdown. Peck now has 352 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns, but the strength of the offense comes from the ground game where Peck leads the team with 195 yards and a touchdown followed by Pettus (186 yards and three touchdowns), sophomore Jorge Velazguez (171 yards, three touchdowns) and junior Fermin Duran (126 yards, three touchdowns)
In the three losses, the Pioneers scored 29 points, a far cry from the 56 points they put up on Long Beach Cabrillo High in the season opener, and it will be tough to score against Estancia, which has posted a pair of shutouts and allowed 31 points in the other two victories.
Last Friday, Estancia blanked Pioneer High 15-0, a 605 League opponent for Artesia, as quarterback Kai Bargas completed half his nine passes for 118 yards while Jeff Brown rushed for 174 yards and a touchdown early in the third quarter. The 4-0 start is the best for the Estancia program since 1996.
Like Artesia, the Eagles are more of a running team, having gained 200 more yards than Bargas has passing yards. Brown leads the team with 566 yards with three touchdowns, and defensively, the Eagles have nine sacks and seven interceptions.
In last season’s meeting in which Estancia was 3-1 at the time, the Pioneers gained 227 yards on the ground with then-running back Julius Padilla added 110 yards on 17 carries while then-quarterback Charlie Lopez pitching in with 101 yards on 21 carries and all three touchdowns.
Prediction: Estancia 28, Artesia 14
In other football games:
Wilson High (1-3) @ Cerritos High (3-2)-This game was played on Sept. 24. Cerritos pulled off a remarkable come from behind 31-28 victory over Canyon High last Thursday in which the Dons trailed by 18 points in the third quarter. Cerritos has scored either 31 or 35 points in the three wins but has allowed 70 points in the last two games.
While senior quarterback Justin Sagun has thrown for 442 yards and three touchdowns, it’s all about the running attack which has already produced over 1,100 yards. Senior Labrenton Wilson leads the Dons with 379 yards and four touchdowns while senior Jayden Bagaygay has 335 yards and two touchdowns. For added measure, Sagun has pitched in with 215 yards and four scores. On defense, senior Bailey Crawford has four of the team’s seven sacks.
Wilson out of Hacienda Heights won its first game last Friday, defeating Montclair High 17-7. The Wildcats went into halftime up 10-0 and extended the lead in the third quarter. Quarterback Jason Flegeance III completed five passes in nine attempts for 106 yards and a touchdown to Avery Carbone while four rushers combined for 91 yards. For the season, Wilson has gained 941 total yards, however that number is greatly increased with the return yardage. Brian Silva has 225 yards in kickoff returns and 128 yards in punt returns to go with 124 receiving yards. He is averaging nearly 140 yards a game.
This is the first meeting between the teams in at least 28 seasons, and the Wildcats have gone 20-4 in the last two seasons after not finishing with at least a .500 record since 2007.
Prediction: Cerritos 31, Wilson 14
John Glenn High (2-3) @ University High (1-3)-A two-game losing streak to begin the season was followed by a two-game winning streak for Glenn. Now, following a 14-0 loss to La Quinta High last Friday, the Eagles are eager to get back to .500 against the Irvine-based school. How much has Glenn improved since last season? Through five games last season, the Eagles scored 32 points and ended their campaign with 50 points. Already, Glenn has put up 101 points while yielding 96. That’s a far cry from the 252 points given up through the 1-8 season. Sophomore quarterback Ryder Perez has thrown for four touchdowns while senior running back Okoro Lee has found the end zone five times on the ground.
The Eagles will be hoping to avenge last season’s 38-0 loss to the Trojans in the second meeting between the programs. In 2018, Glenn came away with a 46-18 victory. Quarterback Dylan Elmer completed three passes for 101 yards with two going for touchdowns in last season’s contest and is completing just under 50 percent of his passes through the first three games with 489 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
University lost to Garden Grove High 35-14 last Friday and its lone win came against Los Amigos High, 23-7, on Sept. 4. In fact, the Trojans have scored 58 points thus far.
Prediction: Glenn 28, University 17
Valencia High (1-3) @ Gahr High (1-3)-A week after getting its first victory of the season, the Gladiators went backwards last Friday against Los Altos High in a 47-6 defeat. The lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter as the Conquerors built a 41-0 lead heading into the final 12 minutes. Gahr has scored 46 points this season, but 33 came in the victory against Trinity Classical Academy on Sept. 12. Los Altos rushed for 225 yards, and the Gladiators are hoping for better results in the first meeting with Valencia in at least 28 seasons.
The Tigers prowl into Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium on a three-game losing streak which includes last Friday’s 21-13 setback to Walnut High. The game was tied 7-7 at the half but the Mustangs scored twice in the third quarter for the deciding points. Quarterback Adrian Hurtado was eight of 18 for 110 yards and an interception while Ediel Nicholas led the rushing department with 47 yards on eight carries and scored once. Like Gahr, the Tigers are also having problems scoring as they have been outscored 99-19 during their losing streak.
Prediction: Valencia 21, Gahr 17
Last week’s predictions: 5-2
Season to date: 19-12
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
For the first time since Oct. 2, 2006, Artesia took Cerritos to five sets in a match. But the Dons rallied in the final two sets and escaped with an 18-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-8, 15-3 victory this past Tuesday. Between 2006 and this past Tuesday, the Pioneers had taken just two sets from Cerritos. Artesia (4-7 overall, 0-2 in the 605 League based off posted scores) will go to Whitney High on Friday and host Pioneer on Tuesday while Cerritos (13-4, 4-0) travels to Pioneer on Friday before entertaining Glenn on Tuesday.
After going winless in eight Gateway League matches last season, Gahr has found life in the Mid-Cities League much easier. The Gladiators swept Firebaugh High 25-13, 25-23, 25-9 to go to 17-8, 4-0. Gahr has won four in a row and seven of its last nine matches as it will visit Norwalk High on Friday, Lynwood High on Tuesday and Bellflower High on Tuesday.
Glenn was swept by Whitney this past Tuesday to drop to 1-8, 0-2 based off posted scores as the Eagles will travel to Oxford Academy on Friday ahead of the Cerritos match.
La Mirada High is also having a rough season with one victory in 16 matches after getting swept by Mayfair High on Sept. 16. The Matadores visited Warren High on Sept. 25 and will travel to Norwalk on Tuesday before entertaining Mayfair on Thursday.
Norwalk (10-7, 2-1) went to Mayfair on Sept. 25 and travels to Downey High on Tuesday while the best team in the area continues to be Valley Christian High.
The Defenders posted its fourth straight sweep in a 25-20, 25-11, 25-9 decision over Heritage Christian High this past Tuesday to improve to 19-2 overall, 3-0 in the Olympic League. V.C. went to Maranatha High on Sept. 25 and will venture north to Village Christian High on Tuesday before hosting Whittier Christian High on Thursday.
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