The Crescenta Valley Falcons celebrate the CIF Southeast Division Title!
By Tim Peterson
(Glendale) – Brian Gadsby hit Jordan Lobianco in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give Crescent Valley a 21-14 win over Downey and a CIF Southeast Championship at Moyse Field in Glendale Friday night.
The TD strike came on the first play of the fourth quarter and broke a 14-14 tie. The Falcons then had to stop Downey twice in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.
Brian Gadsby at the helm for the undefeated, CIF Champs
Jonathan Jun ground up the yards and the clock when the Falcons needed him.
The victory capped a perfect 14-0 run for the Falcons as they won their first CIF title since December 14, 1973 when they beat Monrovia at Citrus College.
Crescenta Valley jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter when Chase Walker recovered a fumble at the goal line by Tyler Hill after a three yard run.
The Vikings battled back with a ten-yard run by Daevon Vigilant late in the second quarter that capped a 70-yard drive.
The Vikings tied it late in the third when Justin Huff pounded in from four yards out to finish a 84-yard march.
Downey went for it twice on fourth down in the fourth quarter only to get shut down by CV. Stacy Chuckwumezie caught an apparent touchdown pass on the first fourth down play but it was ruled incomplete by the official. On the next possession Vigilant was stood up at his own 38-yard line with just over two minutes left and the Falcons ran out the clock.
***Lobianco’s touchdown catch was his only reception of the game.
***Downey quarterback Trevor Hill did not complete a pass in the first half and finished 4-14 for 91 yards and an interception.
***Vigilant and Huff combined for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
***Each team turned the ball over once. Falcon receiver Boston Lakin fumbled in the first quarter and Hill’s interception for Downey.
***Gadsby completed 12 of 24 for 216 yards and a touchdown.
***Crescenta Valley pulled out a couple of trick plays for the Final. Defensive lineman Davo Hakobyan caught a swing pass in the first half for 24 yards and offensive lineman Byeong Ho B.K. Kim ran 30 yards on a fumblerooski play in the third quarter.
***Jonathan Jun had 27 carries for 105 yards and a ten-yard touchdown run that gave CV a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
***Connor Van Ginkle was Gadsby’s favorite target with five catches for 94 yards.
***Falcon kicker Alex Alanakovic was true on all three extra points but did miss a 26-yard field goal late in the fourth that could have iced it. The Falcon D then made the fourth down stop on Vigilant.
***Downey, who won the Southeast title two years ago, finished 10-4.
*** “I actually thought we had a shot to go unbeaten and win the title as long as we stayed healthy. We had everybody coming back and after we lost a coin flip last year that kept us out of the playoffs we used that as motivation. Whenever you go undefeated and win a championship it takes a little bit of magic. We had that this year.” – Crescenta Valley HC Paul Schilling.
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