{"id":99940,"date":"2026-10-31T00:41:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T07:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=99940"},"modified":"2026-10-31T01:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T08:11:45","slug":"la-serna-claims-gateway-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=99940","title":{"rendered":"La Serna Claims Gateway Title"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Lancers\u2019 Grady Long (1) is brought down by the Vikings\u2019 Cesar Lopez (51) during a high school football game between the Downey Vikings and the visiting La Serna Lancers at Downey High School in Downey, CA on October 30, 2026 (Photo by David Thomas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Alex A. Gonzalez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Downey) \u2013 With less than three minutes left in regulation and the game tied at 14, La Serna\u2019s Grady Long dropped back to pass and connected with Kenai Summage for the game\u2019s go-ahead touchdown, and Nathan Christiansen sealed the 20-14 win over Downey when he sacked Kale Murphy, clinching the school’s first Gateway League title Friday night at Burbeck Field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u201cIt feels great, you know. This was our goal going into this new league,\u201d said Long after the game. \u201cTo be the first one to win the Gateway League in La Serna Lancer history. We got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a game where both teams traded field position and defensive touchdowns, neither team could find a way to create separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bDowney\u2019s defense scored the game’s first touchdown midway through the first quarter on the chilly night, when La Serna was set to punt in their own endzone until Gavin Chapman broke through the front line, blocked the punt, and recovered it for the score.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThen La Serna\u2019s defense returned the favor as the second quarter began when Etoagwara Onyenegecha read Chase Watkins\u2019 short pass to the flat, picked it off, and returned it for the score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe Lancers then added another touchdown as the quarter ended when Long escaped the pocket, found Landon Armenta open on the sideline, and took it 48 yards to the house, giving his team a 14-7 advantage at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lancers\u2019 Landon Armenta (10) runs for yardage after a catch during a high school football game between the Downey Vikings and the visiting La Serna Lancers at Downey High School in Downey, CA on October 30, 2026 (Photo by David Thomas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200bBoth teams then exchanged field position with a slew of punts after every possession throughout the quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bAlthough the Vikings couldn\u2019t get their passing game going, Max Acosta, who leads the Gateway in rushing with 625 yards, chewed up yards on the ground, but when the team needed to complete a pass, the ball either fell short of the receiver or was out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe Vikings had a chance to cut into the 14-7 deficit at the 4:11 mark of the third quarter when Elijah Verdusco attempted a 41-yard field goal, but he didn\u2019t get enough leg, and the ball fell short of the goalposts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bBut the defense came through once again with 40 seconds left in the quarter,  when they added their second touchdown of the night when Matthew Dalhover picked off Long and returned it 56 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Vikings Gavin Chapman (22) blocked a punt, recovered the football, and then scored a touchdown while tackled by the Lancers\u2019 Evan Versper (89) during a high school football game between the Downey Vikings and the visiting La Serna Lancers at Downey High School in Downey, CA on October 30, 2026 (Photo by David Thomas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe defense, however, couldn\u2019t stop the Lancers on their final drive of the night. With the ball on their 45-yard line, Long shook off his three-interception night and needed only two pass attempts to score the game\u2019s go-ahead TD to Summage with less than two minutes remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, with ups and downs, we just got to keep battling. Keep fighting. Our defense played lights out, keep giving me the ball back,\u201d said Long. \u201cAnd, you know, double move, give the ball to Kenai\u2026We knew we were going to connect on one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bDowney managed to march downfield on the ensuing possession, with Murphy replacing Watkins at quarterback. But when the offense sputtered and faced a 4th and eight from the La Serna 21-yard line with 26 seconds left in the contest, Christiansen\u2019s blindside rush sacked Murphy, sealing the game and a Gateway League championship for the Lancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downey Starting O-Line<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LT 70 Andrew Paz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LG 72 Nathan Molina<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C 50 Charlie Zegarra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RG 55 Aaron Aguilar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RT 52 John Noriega <\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Serna Starting O-Line\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LT 78 Jake Hurtado<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LG 60 Logan Brown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C 57 Jackson Zhulke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RG 64 Michael Salsameda<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RT 52 Jeremiah Rubalcava<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alex A. Gonzalez (Downey) \u2013 With less than three minutes left in regulation and the game tied at 14, La Serna\u2019s Grady Long dropped back to pass and connected with Kenai Summage for the game\u2019s go-ahead touchdown, and Nathan Christiansen sealed the 20-14 win over Downey when he sacked Kale Murphy, clinching the school’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12816,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsfootball","category-high-school-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99940"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99947,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99940\/revisions\/99947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}