NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRESS ROW: Football playoff spots, league titles can be secured in Week 9 action

October 22, 2026

By Loren Kopff •@Loren Kopff on X

The Gateway League is living up to all expectations in its first season as four of the six football members will finish with at least a .500 overall record and all six have a combined mark of 26-22 with two more weeks remaining in the regular season. Two of the six meet on Friday for the first time since at least 1999 as Cerritos High, hoping to rebound from last Friday’s 50-point loss and get back into CIF-Southern Section playoff contention, hosts Downey High in the HMG-Community News Game of the Week.

Cerritos has a 2-6 overall record and 1-1 in the circuit but suffered one of the program’s worst losses in a 57-7 setback to league favorite La Serna High, falling behind 42-0 at the half. It was the first time in recent memory those programs have faced each other. The previous week, the Dons pulled off a stunning 33-31 victory over Mayfair High, their first over the Monsoons in over 18 seasons.

Junior quarterback Evan McDonald has been coming into his own recently and prior to the La Serna game, had completed 92 of 153 passes for 1,467 yards and 15 touchdowns, but has thrown eight interceptions. Senior Sam Reeves is the leader on the ground but had just over 300 yards before last week’s game. That means McDonald will be busy and has plenty of targets to go to-seniors Terrence Grissom, Matthew McCoy, Reeves and junior Roman Bateman. The quartet have combined for 1,634 yards and 89 receptions with 16 touchdowns of the team’s 19 offensive touchdowns entering last Friday’s contest.

Cerritos still has allowed twice as many points as it has scored 302-150 and is hoping the offense can get back on track against a Downey team that has won three straight games and five of its last six. Last Friday, the Vikings posted a 45-0 decision over La Mirada High as quarterback Chase Watkins completed 10 of 16 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns while Kale Murphy had three successful passes for 42 yards and a touchdown. Nine players had at least a reception but none of them caught more than three. Jayden Diaz scored a pair of touchdowns totaling 27 yards on his only two carries while Max Acosta led the Vikings with 53 yards on six carries.

Downey has outscored its last three opponents 133-30, but in the five non-league contests, it was outscored 123-104.

Prediction: Downey 38, Cerritos 21

GAMES PLAYED ON OCT. 23

RIO VISTA LEAGUE

Artesia High (6-1, 3-0) vs. Whittier High (5-3, 3-0) @ California High-The winner of the biggest game of the season for either team will claim no worse than a share of the inaugural Rio Vista League title and both squads are as hot at the right point of the season. Artesia is coming off an emphatic 58-0 win over John Glenn High last Friday, limiting the Eagles to negative yardage on offense while running just 22 plays and gaining close to 350 yards. The Pioneers have won four straight games on the field, outscoring their foes 166-7 with three straight shutouts. The lone loss came to Gahr High on Sept. 4, a 31-3 defeat. Defense is the name of the game for the Pioneers, who have allowed 50 points this season. The focal point on offense is junior running back Justin Pettus, who has over 750 yards and has found the endzone 13 times. He is complemented by senior running back Izayah Carranza (53 carries, 292 yards, three touchdowns).

Whittier blanked Pioneer High 46-0 last Friday for its third straight win after losing three straight games. The Cardinals scored 20 points in the opening quarter and 10 more before halftime. Quarterback Jonathan Silva completed seven passes in nine attempts for 137 yards and three touchdowns, but none of the six receivers caught more than two passes. Adrian Munoz rushed four times for 125 yards and scored once while Charlie Ancich rushed six times for 42 yards and scored twice. On defense, Jeremiah Martinez has three of the team’s seven sacks.

Artesia and Whittier have split the last four meetings, but they have not played since 2012, a 55-14 win. The previous season, the Cardinals won 54-14 after Artesia took the 2006 contest 19-13.

Prediction: Artesia 28, Whittier 21

MID-CITIES LEAGUE

Gahr (5-2-1, 2-1) @ Santa Fe High (3-5, 1-2)-Gahr remained as one of the three teams that will grab an automatic playoff berth as the Gladiators were all over California High last Friday, 41-14. It marked the fourth time this season Gahr had reached over 30 points in a game and the second straight contest it allowed 14 points. The defense held the Condors to 195 yards on offense, including 83 yards on the ground.

Santa Fe had no problems with Norwalk High in a 42-3 triumph last Friday, snapping a five-game losing streak. Quarterback Aiden Garate completed all but one of his nine passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both going to Jeremiah Norman who gathered 121 yards on just two receptions. Adrian Delgado caught three passes for 46 yards while the Sentinels had nine players combine for 189 yards on the ground with four of them scoring a touchdown.

Prediction: Gahr 31, Santa Fe 28

FRIDAY’S GAMES

GATEWAY LEAGUE

Warren High (5-3, 1-2) @ La Mirada High (5-3, 1-2)-After scoring at least 19 points in the previous seven games this season, the Matadores were shut down last Friday against Downey, which rolled up close to 400 yards of offense. The Matadores need to get the offense back to the way it was in the first six games when they scored 206 points. 50-21

Warren is coming off a 50-21 win over Mayfair in which the Bears were comfortable ahead 37-7 at the half. The win snapped a three-game skid by the Bears, who were outscored 127-72. Before that, Warren began the season winning its first four games.

Heading into last Friday’s game, Warren quarterback Jordan Malikin had completed 131 passes for 1,858 yards with 26 touchdowns opposite three interceptions. A trio of receivers had caught at least 24 passes for at least 363 yards while no one had rushed for 200 yards.

La Mirada and Warren are two of three teams tied third place in the league but most likely, both will find themselves in the postseason. The Bears have won all four meetings with the Matadores, including last season’s 27-13 contest. Two seasons ago, they played in the last week of the regular season with third place on the line and the Bears escaped with a 38-35 decision.

Prediction: Warren 28, La Mirada 21

IRONWOOD LEAGUE

Western Christian High (7-1, 2-1) @ Valley Christian High (5-2-1, 2-1)-A week after V.C. saw its five-game winning streak end with a 28-7 setback to Aquinas High, it won’t get easier when league newcomer Western Christian makes a visit for V.C.’s annual Harvest Festival. Aquinas scored a touchdown in each quarter while the lone score for the Defenders came in the third quarter when senior quarterback Graham Lunzer tossed a short pass to sophomore wide receiver Eli Zoetewey.

Lunzer has passed for 1,645 yards and completed 69 percent of his passes thus far with 22 touchdowns against six interceptions. He also leads the team with 469 yards and 11 more touchdowns, accounting for all but five of the team’s offensive touchdowns. The core of the offense comes from its receivers, led by seniors Byron Louis (35 receptions, 612 yards, five touchdowns), Sam Melcher (28 receptions, 336 yards, seven touchdowns) and Liam Sweeney (12 receptions, 142 yards, two touchdowns) and sophomores Eli Zoetewey (24 receptions, 263 yards, four touchdowns) and Levi Dean (13 receptions, 122 yards, two touchdowns).

Not only did the Defenders see their five-game winning streak fade away last Friday, but they also failed to score at least 35 points for the second game of the season. They may find a tough time to get to that mark as W.C.’s defense has allowed 23.5 points a game. Last Friday, the Fighting Lancers defeated Heritage Christian High 44-37, rallying from a 10-0 first quarter deficit before taking a 23-10 halftime lead. It was 37-16 heading into the final quarter.

Donovan Ramirez rushed 11 times for 121 yards and scored twice as W.C. picked up 314 yards on the ground, which should make this key league contest a tale of different offenses by both clubs. Ramirez is the leader in the rushing department with 833 yards on a team that has totaled 2,672 yards while quarterbacks Grayson Rodriguez and Luke Wilson have combined for 668 yards. The defense has also sacked opposing quarterbacks eight times with seven interceptions.

The Fighting Lancers outscored their first four opponents 198-21 and defeated Grace High 56-47 before falling to Aquinas 49-0. This will be V.C.’s first meeting against the Upland-based school. In the 2023 CIF-SS Division 12 quarterfinals, W.C. dropped a 55-44 home contest to Cerritos, which went on to win the school’s first championship in program history. The winner of this game will lock up second place in the league.

Prediction: Valley Christian 31, Western Christian 28

MID-CITIES LEAGUE

Norwalk (1-7, 0-3) @ Bellflower High (5-3, 2-1)-After playing probably it’s best game of the season that did not result in a victory, Norwalk dropped a 42-3 decision to Santa Fe last Friday. It was the fourth game the Lancers were held to single digits in scoring while the defense yielded at least 40 points for the fourth time. Norwalk’s offense has been operating nearly at a 50-50 pace passing to running and utilizing senior Johnniele Mdrea and sophomore Jeremiah Lopez at the quarterback position while senior Erck Dominguez continues to be the team’s top running back.

Bellflower is one of two teams tied for second place in the league but fell to league-leading Paramount High 30-20 last Friday. It was a one-possession game at the half before the Pirates got a safety in the third quarter and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Heading into that game, Bellflower signal caller Elacion Saxton had completed 126 of 187 passes for 1,928 yards and 22 touchdowns with his favorite receiver Keondre Smith, who has caught 60 passes for 1,116 yards and eight touchdowns. The Buccaneers are also successful with their ground game as Kevin Cuba III had gained 772 yards on 112 rushes with nine touchdowns.

Norwalk has won the last five meetings, including last season’s 14-7 game. Before that, they met in 2022 and the Lancers escaped with a 14-12 victory. The last Bellflower win over Norwalk was in 2019, a 28-13 contest.

Prediction: Bellflower 35, Norwalk 7

RIO VISTA LEAGUE

Lynwood High (3-4, 0-3) @ John Glenn (4-4, 0-3)-What began as a promising season for a program that has struggled for the better part of the past two decades has turned 180 degrees the other way as Glenn has lost four straight games, being outscored 160-7 in the process. The Eagles won their first four games by a combined score of 122-42 and if there is any hope of possibly ending a six-year playoff drought, they need to defeat Lynwood to at least reach the mandatory .500 mark for an at-large berth.

Lynwood used to be similar to Glenn when it was situated in the former San Gabriel Valley League, getting a 5-5 or better record only three times from 2004-2014, The Knights have turned it around recently, going 26-15 from 2022-2024, but they have lost three in a row and four of their last five games.

Lynwood has a pair of shutouts on its season resume, one against Compton Early College who Glenn defeated 26-15 earlier in the season but has been outscored by only 10 points through the eight games. This is the first meeting between the programs in at least 29 seasons.

Prediction: Lynwood 21, Glenn 7

Last week’s predictions: 5-1

Season to date: 31-11