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By Loren Kopff
Sports Editor | Follow X
October 29, 2025
The final week of the regular season for high school football has finally arrived and six of the seven HMG-Community News area teams are still mathematically alive for the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. And, as the case with all the other sports in the 2025-2026 academic school year, this will also mark the last time rivals in the current leagues will face each other in league competition for at least one season as the new 20-team conference begins. All games except Gahr High’s contest with Firebaugh High contest will be played on Oct. 30.
605 LEAGUE
Artesia High (4-5, 1-1) @ Pioneer High (3-6, 1-1)-Offensively, it wasn’t a crisp game for Artesia in its 21-7 win over John Glenn High last Thursday, but the Pioneers will take it. Without the services of starting senior quarterback Joey Peck, sophomore Jorge Velazquez took over and completed 11 of 14 passes for 76 yards. The story of Artesia’s offense has been on the ground where sophomore running back Justin Pettus, who gained 127 yards on 20 carries and scored twice last Thursday, leads the Pioneers with 557 yards and six touchdowns. Velazquez is next with 313 yards and three touchdowns as the team has gained 1,511 yards from 13 players on the ground.
Pioneer was no match for Cerritos High Thursday in a 59-6 defeat, marking the third time the Titans have been held to seven points or less in a game this season. Two of the three wins have come by way of a shutout, but scoring has been an issue as Pioneer has averaged 17 points.
The winner of this contest will clinch second place and an automatic berth in the playoffs and Artesia is projected to be in Division 14. It’s 35-27 win last season over the Titans was the seventh in nine meetings since 2015 and second straight. Pioneer posted a 22-0 victory on Oct. 27, 2022.
Prediction: Artesia 28, Pioneer 14
Glenn (2-7, 0-2) @ Cerritos (7-2, 2-0)-A chance to win its 18th straight and final 605 League game in the HMG-Community News Game of the Week is what the Dons are staring at following the rout against Pioneer. Senior quarterback Justin Sagun was 12 of 16 for 138 yards and threw touchdown passes to senior Jayden Bagaygay for 63 yards and junior Alex Laurin for four yards. Senior running back La’Brenten Wilson carried the ball nine times, picking up 140 yards and scored twice while junior running back Sam Reeves, a transfer from Glenn, added 139 yards on 10 carries and found the end zone twice.
Cerritos racked up 631 yards on offense, and the 59 points was a season high. In fact, the Dons have scored over 20 points eight times, over 30 points five times and over 50 points twice.
Expect that trend to continue against an injury-plagued Glenn team that will be without senior quarterback Luis Vergara and senior wide receiver Jonah Mason. Replacing them in the Artesia game was sophomore signal caller Ryder Perez and senior wide receiver Juan Navarro, who hooked up six times for 44 yards. Senior running back Okaro Lee rushed 14 times for 40 yards.
Cerritos has won five straight over the Eagles, the last two being shutouts, and nine out of the last 13 meetings. This figures to be the last time these longtime rivals of the former Suburban League will face each other in league competition for several seasons. Cerritos is projected to be in the middle of the Division 9 bracket while Glenn is slated to be in the third of the three new leagues for football next season where it will face more desirable competition.
Prediction: Cerritos 49, Glenn 7
GATEWAY LEAGUE
Mayfair High (3-6, 3-1) @ La Mirada High (4-5, 2-2)-When these two longtime rivals were in the Suburban League, they would battle it out for first place more times than not. Now, La Mirada is fighting to force either a two-way tie for second place, or even a three-way tie as well as finishing the regular season with a .500 mark.
La Mirada broke away from Paramount High in the second and third quarters last Friday to defeat the Pirates 37-16. Sophomore quarterback Ace Faagata completed a dozen passes for 128 yards and one touchdown while junior running back Josiah Fregoso led the ground attack with 116 yards on 20 carries. Junior running back Ismael Garca gained 89 yards on seven carries and scored once while Faagata added 62 yards on 10 carries and scored twice. Junior Cristian Hecker booted three field goals and the Matadores had nearly 500 all-purpose yards.
This was the second straight game, and third of the season La Mirada has scored over 30 points as it has won two straight following a five-game losing streak.
Mayfair has also been on a roll lately, winning three straight games, including a 42-18 win over Dominguez High last Friday. It’s the most points the Monsoons have scored this season after scoring 71 points during their six-game losing streak. Mayfair defeated La Mirada 42-21 last season for its eighth straight win in this highly contested series. Three of those wins have been decided by a combined eight points. The last win by the Matadores over the Monsoons came on Nov. 4, 2016, a 63-13 affair, and La Mirada is projected to be near the top of the Division 8 bracket should it prevail.
Prediction: La Mirada 24, Mayfair 21
IRONWOOD LEAGUE
Valley Christian High (6-3, 3-1) @ Ontario Christian High (0-9, 0-4)-Last season, V.C. was heartbroken after not getting an at-large berth despite a 7-3 record. But it’s been completely different in 2025 as the Defenders have won two straight games and five out of their last six following a 35-25 victory over Heritage Christian High last Friday. V.C., which went 2-3 in the Ironwood League last season, enters the contest tied for second place.
Junior Graham Lunzer continues to be the hottest quarterback in the area as he accounted for all five touchdowns against Heritage Christian. He was 16 of 23 for 189 yards and tossed three touchdowns while rushing 20 times for 128 yards with a pair of scores. Both of his touchdown passes went to senior wide receiver Oliver Boateng, who caught six passes for 76 yards, and Lunzer has scored 28 of V.C.’s 32 offensive touchdowns-16 passing and 12 rushing.
The game was tied twice in the first quarter and the lead changed hands twice as the Defenders had a 21-17 heading into the second stanza.
V.C. and Ontario Christian are longtime rivals, but the Knights have won the last three meetings including last season’s 29-0 victory. Still, V.C. has the edge, 13-12, since 1998 and can further boost its playoff status with a win over a team that has been outscored 449-100 this season.
The Knights were throttled by Village Christian High 62-14 last Friday and have allowed at least 40 points in eight games. Aside from the 27 points scored against first place Aquinas High, Ontario Christian has scored at least 20 points just once.
None of the 13 ball carriers has gained 200 yards this season and Gavin Giles is the leading receiver with 20 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns. The Defenders are projected to be one of the top seeded teams in Division 9.
Prediction: Valley Christian 42, Ontario Christian 14
MID-CITIES LEAGUE
Gahr (5-4, 3-1) @ Firebaugh (1-8, 0-4)-After a rocky start to the season in which Gahr lost three of four games while scoring 46 points in those games, the Gladiators have turned it around and put themselves in a position to either finish in second place in the Mid-Cities League, or with help from Bellflower, end the regular season as tri-champions.
Gahr defeated Compton Early College 42-12 last Friday, the second time it has eclipsed the 40-point plateau. The Gladiators have also allowed under 15 points in four of their last five games, all victories, and have defeated the Falcons in all three meetings between the programs by a combined score of 132-14. Gahr is projected to be towards the bottom of Division 11 or 12.
The Falcons were forced to forfeit last Friday’s game with Norwalk High due to a lack of eligible players, according to a Firebaugh front office staff member. The team has not scored since falling to Compton Early College 63-49 on Oct. 2 and has not scored in half the games played.
Prediction: Gahr 49, Firebaugh 7
Norwalk (9-0, 4-0) @ Bellflower High (7-2, 3-1)-Firebaugh’s forfeit victory last Friday allowed Norwalk to have a chance to finish undefeated heading into the playoffs. The Lancers, who are projected to be one of the lower seeded teams in Division 9, have not won their first nine games to a season since winning 13 straight games in 2013 before falling in the Southeast Division title game. Three seasons ago, the Lancers won eight straight games from the beginning.
Norwalk, in typical fashion because of the double wing offense, has been a scoring juggernaut, reaching 21 points in the eight games played, and over 50 points twice while the defense has limited the last four opponents to a combined 33 points.
Senior running backs Diego Cerritos and Daron Walker have been simply sensational, rushing for 1,237 yards and 19 touchdowns and 1,196 and 16 touchdowns, respectively.
Bellflower got past Lynwood High 21-7 last Friday for its third straight win and fourth out of the last five games. The game was scoreless at halftime before an interception by Christian Pena led to a touchdown from running back Austin Miller. He would add another rushing touchdown past the midway point of the fourth quarter and made it three for three a few minutes later. Miller, just a freshman, rushed 14 times for 101 yards and leads the Buccaneers with 559 yards on 47 carries and 10 touchdowns. He’s also the leading receiver with 32 catches for 512 yards and eight touchdowns.
Norwalk has won the last three meetings, including a narrow 14-12 contest last season and dating back to 1998, trails in the season-series 13-12.
Prediction: Norwalk 35, Bellflower 21
Last week’s prediction: 5-0
Season to date: 37-19
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
When the CIF-SS playoffs began on Oct. 21, six of the eight area teams had dreams of a divisional championship. Three teams, Cerritos, Norwalk and Whitney High were eliminated in the second round, and V.C. was upset in the first round. That leaves Artesia and Gahr still dreaming as they have advanced to this past Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Artesia (12-10), the second-ranked team in Division 8, travelled to Vistamar High and a win will keep the Pioneers on the road for Saturday’s semifinals against either Loma Linda Academy or Paramount.
In Division 6, Gahr (26-9) travelled up the 101 freeway to face Santa Barbara High, and a win will pit the Gladiators against either Culver City High on the road or Ontario Christian High at home on Saturday.
GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
Cerritos is keeping their dream season alive for a first-year program as the Dons held on for a 20-12 victory over Adelanto High this past Tuesday. Cerritos improved to 15-7 and will travel far to face fourth-seeded Adelanto High on Saturday in a Division 6 semifinal contest. Senior Madelyn Macaraeg had the first of her three interceptions on the first play of the game, and it led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior Camille Mangahis to Macaraeg. Cerritos went up 14-0 on a touchdown pass from junior Kianna Rangel to sophomore Analiyah Coneita. The key clincher was a 30-yard connection from Rangel to junior Alexi Olmos late in the game with the Dons holding an eight-point lead.
