A disappointed crowd emptied the Allen Lane Stadium on Friday, Sep. 3 after the varsity football team came up short, 28-37, against the Mayfair Monsoons. Mayfair scored their first touchdown at seven minutes and fifty-eight seconds into the first quarter and soon after scored their second touchdown at five minutes and forty-one seconds, leaving the score 15 to 0. The varsity players aimed to redeem themselves and did so close to the end of the first quarter when senior Jabari Ruffin scored Downey’s first touchdown. This brought a surge of hope to the crowd and the team proceeded to score another touchdown, but not before the Monsoons could score as well. Eleven minutes and four seconds in the second quarter, the score was 14 to 24 and it remained until Dallas Lopez scored a touchdown near the end of the second quarter, changing the score yet again to 21 to 24.
As the crowd stirred from their seats at half time, they knew that the Vikings were capable of taking the lead and stealing the game from Mayfair. When they returned at third quarter, Downey fought hard and Ruffin scored one more touchdown for the varsity team, but shortly after, the Monsoons scored, making the score 28 to 31. With not much time left on the scoreboard, Downey’s offense attempted another field goal but they came up short by about ten yards. The very next play lead to even more disaster when Mayfair pulled a seventy yard run for the touchdown, thus winning. When the game was over the varsity team displayed their Downey Pride and approached the stands to sing their alma mater, already optimistic for their next game.
The Vikings redeemed themselves the following home game when they dominated Schurr, 50-14. The team took an early lead in the first quarter when senior Anthony Gonzales scored the first touchdown at 9:18.
“Our last game was horrible, we’ve never taken the lead so early so it felt pretty good,” Gonzales, said about his touchdown.
Downey’s offense scored another field goal later in the quarter and the defense never let Schurr touch the end zone. The second quarter brought many more points for the varsity team when
junior Brandon Davis made a field goal at 0:19; leaving the score board at a comfortable 21-7. But the team was not satisfied; the football players marched onto the field after half time with their minds set to completely dominate the Spartans, and Ruffin made a field goal at 7:20 into the third quarter.
“I feel really good about the win,” Ruffin said, “we didn’t come out and play as a team these past games and the score board showed it.”
Senior Dallas Lopez scored a field goal near the end of the third quarter, changing the scoreboard once again to 41-14. The varsity team scored one more time at the beginning of the fourth quarter leaving the final score at 50-14. Davis, receiver and free safety, felt satisfied with the win and is grateful for the change in practice.
“Our focus was better, we practiced a lot harder,” Davis said, “A lot of people [on the team] got into it and it showed on the field.”
With “the monkey off of their backs”, as Ruffin stated, the team hopes to maintain a winning streak and keep their minds focused on the upcoming games.
