WEEK ZERO FOOTBALL: Gahr’s second half rally against Valley Christian produces rare non-league tie in opener

By Loren Kopff

@LorenKopff on X

Valley Christian High senior wide receiver Byron Louis hauls in one of his five receptions against Gahr High last Friday night during a 35-35 tie in the season opener for both teams. Louis would gain 124 yards on the night and score V.C.’s last touchdown of the game, a 24-yard throw from senior quarterback Graham Lunzer. PHOTO BY STEVE FERECIAN

It was opening night at Dr. Hanford Rants Stadium last night where Gahr High was hosting Valley Christian High with an abundant aroma from the brisket, pulled pork and chicken that was being smoked behind the concession stand and a tie.

That’s right; there was a rare tie as the teams played 48 minutes of a 35-35 contest as the Gladiators scored twice in their first two possessions of the fourth quarter with senior quarterback Jacob Burson tossing the last touchdown of the game to junior wide receiver Riley Bryant for 16 yards with 4:40 remaining in the game.

It was the first time since 2023 that Gahr had not lost to its Artesia Blvd. neighbors, winning that affair 21-20. Last season, the Defenders were all over the Gladiators in a 41-0 contest and since 2021 have won four of the past six meetings against Gahr.

“We started slow, so it’s a character of what these guys are about,” said longtime Gahr head coach Greg Marshall. “Guys go down as usual, and we had some other kids step up. So, I’m very happy with their performance.”

“Ties aren’t always fun, but I actually don’t mind it at this stage,” said V.C. head coach Brendan Chambers. “We’re super young; we’re battling through a lot of pain and trying to fight through all four quarters. But to come out here and play a quality football team…Gahr is really good, and they’re organized this year. They have things going and they’re figuring out their offense and defense. So I feel like a tie is better than a loss right now. We can hold our heads up with the way we battled. I know that the guys are a little upset, and they should be. But I think we’re going to battle back and it will be something we can grow on.”

Junior De’Mir Cunningham scored from 14 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter as the Gladiators tied the game for the first time at 28-28. Three plays later, V.C. senior quarterback Graham Lunzer tossed a 22-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Byron Louis as the Defenders reclaimed the lead. But four plays after that came Gahr’s tying touchdown.

“[Junior] Brandon [Martinez] ran the ball really well,” said Marshall. “Then [senior quarterback] Jacob [Burson], for his first time out, managed the game pretty well. He had to manage the game, and I thought he did that. He made a couple of throws when he needed to. That’s all we asked him to do; he did an excellent job.”

“It was definitely fast-paced,” said Chambers. “We kind of figured early on it might be a shootout because we were having a tough time stopping them and they were having a tough time stopping us. I think both teams got a little tired there and broke open some big plays. But just a couple of missed opportunities offensively that I wished we could have had back. But it was a gritty performance; it got fun there for a while.”

Lunzer accounted for all five touchdowns for his team and gave his team a 7-0 lead 1:37 into the contest when he rushed it in from six yards out on second and six. The four-play drive was set up by a 29-yard gain from sophomore running back Leonard Graham on his first varsity carry. On V.C.’s second drive after its defense forced Gahr to punt, another four plays was needed to get the score to 14-0.

On second and eight, sophomore wide receiver Eli Zoetewey caught his first varsity pass, an 11-yard reception, followed by a 30-yard run and seven-yard gain from Lunzer. A failed onside kick would give the hosts the ball at midfield, and they matriculated their way for the team’s first touchdown of the season.

Martinez gained 27 yards on third and one and two plays later, sophomore wide receiver James Carter caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Burson with 93 seconds left in the quarter.

The score would remain 14-7 until late in the half when V.C. capped off a nine-play drive with a four-yard touchdown pass from Lunzer to senior wide receiver and last season’s backup quarterback Liam Sweeney. Then with 21 seconds left in the half, Burson tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Cunningham as the Gladiators bounced back from an intentionally grounding infraction a play after the Defenders were called for a roughing the passer penalty. Despite trailing by eight points at the half, the Gladiators gained nearly 200 offensive yards, with Burson, Carter, Cunningham, Martinez, and senior running back Nick Washington doing all the work. But it wasn’t all good in the eyes of Marshall.

“It was the tackling,” said Marshall of his team’s first half performance. “I told them if we don’t tackle, the game is over. I think we did a better job in the second half, and then the other thing was we adjusted our defense and made the stops. We were able to stop their run with the five-man box.”

Lunzer, who broke his left fibula in the second quarter of last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division 9 first round playoff game against Chino High and missed the team’s final four games, displayed the same, if not better, better results in the first half as he completed eight of 11 passes for 131 yards and rushed eight times for 58 yards.

“We know that our offense is going to go as far as he takes us,” said Chambers. “He’s just good when it comes to passing and understands when to throw the ball and when not to throw the ball and takes off and runs. So yeah, he did a great job tonight. I’ve said this before, but you wouldn’t even know he was injured with all the [physical therapy] and rehab he has done. He’s faster than he was last year [and] he understands the offense better than last year.”

“Last year, we didn’t cover the pass very well,” said Marshall. “They scored on a lot of big plays, and [tonight], we just didn’t tackle. We were there, but we just didn’t tackle. That’s just the adjustment of trying to control a running quarterback.”

The second half began on fire as Martinez eluded a would-be tackle on the first play, then broke loose for an 85-yard touchdown run just 17 seconds in. But Lunzer went to work and accounted for all 49 yards on V.C.’s initial drive of the second half, including a 23-yard pass to senior tight end Sam Melcher to get the ball to the eight-yard line. Two plays later, he tossed a three-yard scoring strike to Zoetewey as the Defenders went up 28-20.

“That’s what makes it so much fun,” said Chambers. “You get these kids who come up [from junior varsity] and…I told them before the game there’s going to be a lot of first times for everything. First game of your senior year, first game of the season, first time starting in a varsity game, and we knew some of them would step up huge, and Eli had a great moment there. I’m proud of him because he’s been a little bit banged up. But that’s what makes this job fun; seeing those guys step up and get an opportunity like that and score. It just puts a smile on my face; I’m happy for Eli and what he was able to do tonight.”

Lunzer finished the game with 222 passing yards and 78 rushing yards. In his 11-plus games with V.C., the former transfer from St. John Bosco High has accounted for 42 of V.C.’s 58 offensive touchdowns.

Louis caught five passes for 124 yards while on defense, Melcher led the way with six and a half tackles while sophomore linebacker Tae Cooley added five tackles followed by four from Louis and three from sophomore lineman Axel Johnston. V.C. will visit Mary Star of the Sea High on Friday.

“We have a tough one next week,” said Chambers. “I watched a little bit of film earlier today. I know they have some dudes on the field, so it’s going to be a tough two weeks with Mary Star and Cerritos back to back. Just a lot of size and a lot of speed. We’re going to have a challenge ahead of us for the next two weeks and hopefully we can get one of them. But we know Mary Star is going to be a tough opponent.”

Burson was nine of 17 for 124 yards while Martinez led the ground game with 182 yards on seven carries and Cunningham added 93 yards on five touches. Defensively, Carter had four tackles while senior lineman R’shon Livingston had three tackles. The Gladiators will be on the opposite sideline against Cerritos High on Friday.

 “I think we’ll go in healthier this year; I think our kids are ready,” said Marshall. “They’ve gotten us the past couple of years. We’re a much better team early in the year than them. Usually we play better later, but this team…we have all our [offensive] line back. With Brandon, and now we get De’Mir going, we have a pair of really good running backs.”