Here’s how Downey’s football team has had success as it chases perfect regular season
The foundation of Downey High’s 2022 football team’s success was laid two years ago in the depths of the COVID-19 crisis.
The pandemic hit sports teams across the country, and the Knights football program was no exception. Many players quit and forced head coach Jeremy Plaa to call up a number of sophomores. They had to grow up fast, but they are reaping the benefits of that decision this year.
The class has continued to grow and with time and key additions, won its first ever Central California Athletic League title last season, repeated as league champions this year, and has the chance to accomplish something big with one regular season game left.
On Friday night against Pitman (2-7, 1-3 CCAL), Downey’s 71st team will play for the chance to be the first team since 1985 to finish the regular season undefeated.
“All 17 of those kids are still in the program, so that’s a big deal,” said Downey coach Jeremy Plaa, referring to the call-ups. “We’ll be young and exciting next year, but this year, we’re super experienced, very veteran and mature.
“They’ve seen it all. I think they’ve probably heard all of my lectures and they don’t want to hear them again, so they know what they’ve got to do to be successful and they’re doing it.”
The Knights will honor that last undefeated team by welcoming back alum and former member Kevin McGill as an honorary captain.
“1985 was a great team,” Plaa said. “We want to try to bring a representative back to show we see them and hopefully they see us too.”
Chemistry is key
The Knights’ 9-0 record is built on chemistry.
They are averaging 42 points with most of their offensive production coming from quarterback Conner Stoddard and the air-raid offense.
“If he makes a mistake, he’s like, ‘Oh, my bad’ and I’m like, ‘You’ll get it next time’ and if I make a mistake, I’ll just tell him, ‘Throw me again, I got you, I have your back 100%’ and he’s like, ‘Okay,’” said Knights senior receiver Gabe Hernandez. “That connection has definitely been built since sophomore and junior year.”
Hernandez is the Knights’ leading receiver with 813 receiving yards and eight touchdowns but he’s not Stoddard’s only option. Seniors Gavin Garcia and Camden Rush have 586 and 460 yards, respectively and seven receiving touchdowns apiece.
“What’s awesome about our offense is if they put a really good corner on one guy, we’ve got the other guy who can do just the same exact things, so it’s really awesome to have that kind of confidence.” Stoddard said.
Said Plaa: “We don’t even know who’s gonna get the ball. We can’t tell if someone’s going to have a big game because the defense might take them away, but the offense is designed to take advantage of whatever they give us.”
Running back Kimoni Ragland compliments the passing game with 619 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, providing another offensive outlet when opposing defenses key in on Stoddard and his trio of receivers.
“I know that in the passing game, I don’t have to force anything or make anything happen,” Stoddard said. “ I can trust that we can just run the ball and get the first down and rely on Ki Ragland and the O-line to go get it done.”
The offense gets a lot of praise, but Downey’s defense is the team’s unsung hero as the Knights are allowing an average of 13 points a game.
“We’ve just been trying to grind it out every week,” said linebacker Ethen Rowland. “We don’t want to always rely on the offense. We really have to go out there and play like it’s our game to win or our game to lose. That’s kind of a mentality we’ve been having.”
With more than 20 seniors, the Knights don’t need the cliches or motivational speeches. In a way, they lead themselves.
“There’s a lot of things that I take for granted with this team because they’re so mature,” Plaa said. “I haven’t had to tell them not to look down the road. At Monday practice, we’re focused on Monday practice. Tuesday practices, the focus is let’s get better. All we care about is today. Usually, as a coach, you have to constantly remind them to stay in the present. Not this team.”
Not looking past anyone
Last year, Davis High beat Ceres at Chuck Hughes Stadium to cap a 10-0 regular season an Western Athletic Conference title. They were the first Spartans team to go undefeated since 1984.
Gregori High also finished with a perfect regular season in 2016.
“What people don’t understand is that there’s so many moving pieces to the puzzle to win one game, let alone 10,” Davis coach Tim Garcia said. “You’ve got to be talented, the coaching style and schematics have to fit, you’ve got to get lucky throughout that process and then at the end of the day, you have to execute and actually go out and win the games.”
The Knights aren’t looking past anyone. Pitman will likely come into Modesto looking to spoil senior night and make the Knights’ thought of going undefeated just that.
“Nobody’s really talking about being undefeated,” Plaa said. “Nobody’s really talking about going 10-0, we’re talking about playing Pittman on Friday. We’re talking about the playoff seedings and all the different scenarios. We’re focused on the short term future. I feel like our team just isn’t done yet.”
In the short term, the Knights have met the four-win threshold to qualify for the postseason and have beaten enough good teams to possibly secure a top seed in the Division II bracket. But that won’t be announced until Sunday afternoon. Last season, they earned a home playoff game but lost to Lodi and haven’t been past the second round in more than 16 years.
“(A deep playoff push) is definitely a goal but we just haven’t talked about it,” Plaa said. “That’s something we’ll talk about on Monday after the brackets come out and say, ‘Hey, what are we going to commit to doing’ and I think they’ll be ready to make a run.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
