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Grady Long and La Serna are looking to unseat Downey in the Gateway. (Photo by Duane Barker).

By Tim Peterson

Downey is still Downey and still the team to shoot for in the Gateway. La Serna is stacked and should offer the biggest challenge. Mayfair and La Mirada will battle for the third spot while Warren and Cerritos are looking to spoil somebody’s season.

Projected order of finish:

1. Downey – Head Coach: Jack Williams. This has been Downey’s league for several years. Last year the Vikings rolled through the Gateway with a 5-0 record with every game being a rout. They beat La Mirada 67-7 and Warren 40-0. The closest game was a 33-14 win over Mayfair. The Vikes fell to San Juan Hills 28-27 in the first round of the CIF Division 2 playoffs. Quarterback Oscar Rios graduated and is now at Arizona, but the Vikings have a couple different options to replace him. Chase Watkins, a sophomore, backed up Rios last year and is ready to go. Kale Murphy, a senior, transferred in from Servite and will compete with Watkins for the starting job. Other players that are expected to play significant roles for the Vikings are athletes Jordan Hanley and Buddy Tuiagamoa and receiver Damani Porras. Porras had 56 receptions for 1,129 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. Jesus Rios will also line up at wide receiver. Linebacker Matthew Dalhover is set to have a big year on defense as is defensive back Kingston Fasavalu. Defensive back Jordan Robinson and linebacker Gavin Chapman will help on the stop unit as well. The Vikings, despite some recent changes, are still the team in the Gateway. They’ll be ready for any challenges.

2. La Serna – Head Coach: Andy George. For years the narrative has been that La Serna needs to get out of the Del Rio. The Lancers were just too dominant and had nobody that could compete with them in league. It finally happened. La Serna has moved to the Gateway League where every week will be a battle. The Lancers are good, really good. No question there. But are they good enough to win the league? It starts with quarterback Grady Long. Last year he threw for 1,961 yards and 25 touchdowns as a junior. He also ran for 326 yards and a score. Jordan Bonilla, who does everything except sell nachos at halftime at the snack bar, is also back. He rushed for 425 yards and five touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 115 yards. Oh, by the way, he plays defense too. He had 85 total tackles and two interceptions in ’25. Etoagwara Onyenegecha, try saying that five times fast, had 158 yards receiving last year on just seven receptions, averaging over 22 yards per catch. The Lancers are loaded and this is the right league for them. Now we’ll see how far they can take it.

3. Mayfair – Head Coach: Derek Bedell. The Monsoons went 4-1 in league in 2025 with their only setback being at the hands of Downey. They’re in basically in the same situation this year except now they have to deal with La Serna as well. Mayfair has some talent returning at the skill positions including quarterback Lukasz Shriver and receiver Jeromy Powell. Mayfair is always a team that produces athletes on both sides of the ball, and this season is no different. However, the Soons will need to upset one of the two big dogs to capture the league title.

4. La Mirada – Head Coach: Lucas Mealy. La Mirada is an interesting team. The Matadors were middle of the pack last year (2-3 in the Gateway) but they did make the playoffs losing to Beckman in the first round. The Mats have two quarterbacks returning and both should see playing time. Isaac Cuevas, a senior this year, and Ace Faagata, a junior, combined to throw for over 1,000 yards in ’25. La Mirada also has a pair of solid running backs returning in Josiah Fregoso and Ismael Garcia who both rushed for over 600 yards. Kaiden Wardlow caught 46 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns last season as a freshman and is back in the fold. Defensively strong safety Fernando Orozco, 67 total tackles in ’25, and defensive lineman Ryan Gonzales, 63 tackles, are both back to lead the charge. La Mirada looks good for fourth place, or even third, with a good shot at the post season. A win over La Serna or Downey would be huge.

5. Warren – Head Coach: Adam Leonard. Warren went 3-2 in the Gateway League last year but now it gets even tougher with La Serna added to the mix. The Bears return quarterback Jordan Malikin who racked up 2,327 passing yards and 15 touchdowns last year. Warren also features a talented receiving crew with Jeremiah Boyette (871 yards) Julian Padin (642 yards) and Dylan Thompson (387 yards). The Bears offense can be explosive and they have a solid group of athletes to work with. The biggest problem for the Bears is competing in the Gateway League where every week will be a dogfight.

6. Cerritos – Head Coach: Demel Franklin. Cerritos had a great year last season. The Dons went 3-0 in the 605 league and 9-3 overall advancing to the second round of the CIF playoffs before falling to Ramona. But that record of 3-0 came in the 605 League. The Gateway is a whole different animal. Cerritos is a running team and they do have Sam Reeves coming back for his senior year. Reeves averaged over six yards per carry last season. If the Dons can win a game in the Gateway it will be a successful campaign. It is possible that they could surprise somebody, but making the playoffs might be too tall of a mountain to climb. The league is just that good.

Tim Peterson can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40. Facebook-Tim Peterson.