Confident Crescenta Valley High football heads to Paramount for quarterfinals

Despite winning a Pacific League championship, building an unblemished record and holding a No. 4 seed, the Crescenta Valley High football team went into the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division playoffs predicted by many to fall against Harvard-Westlake.

Harvard-Westlake, after all, came from the rigorous Angelus League and had been battle-tested.

But following a contentious first half, the Falcons soared to a 42-14 blowout of the Wolverines and, in the process, vindicated their record, seeding and status as a division contender. On top of that, they may well have become more confident than at any other juncture of the season.

“After every win, we’re always more confident than we were after the win before,” said senior quarterback Brian Gadsby, who had four total touchdowns in his team’s first-round triumph, including two through the air, bringing his season total to 35. “But being 10-0 and having so many people doubt us, having so many haters thinking we didn’t beat anybody, we come from this fluky league. Now, after the win, people know we can contend.

“We’re pretty confident now. …We’re excited and we know they can be a special team.”

The next obstacle for the Falcons (11-0) comes at 7 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals on the road against Paramount (7-4), the No. 3 team from the San Gabriel Valley League that defeated Norwalk, 18-14, in the opening round.

With just more than three minutes to play last week, it looked like Norwalk would be playing Crescenta Valley, as the Lancers held a 14-3 lead over Paramount. However, after a fourth-and-10 pass fell incomplete for the Pirates, pass interference was called and, on the next play, Cassh Maluia hit Eric Fuller Jr. for a 30-yard touchdown, leading to a 14-11 score. Then, following a blocked Norwalk punt, Maluia scrambled for the game-winning touchdown.

Some are of the mindset that the Falcons’ quarterfinal test might actually pose a less arduous task than the first round, but the Pirates boast some big size up front on each side of the line.

“They have some big guys and it’s a far cry from what we saw last week,” said Falcons offensive tackle Brian Wong. “We’re gonna have to work hard to get those guys off the ball.”

Offensively, Gadsby has passed for 2,953 yards, completing 177 of 291 passes. Receiver Connor Van Ginkel has hauled in 52 passes, 12 for touchdowns, for 1,047 yards, with Chase Walker grabbing 32 catches for 614 yards and 10 touchdowns. Balancing the Falcons’ no-huddle spread offense all season has been the rushing of Jonathan Jun, who’s gained 1,107 yards and scored 13 times.

“If all they’re gonna worry about is me, that’s fine,” said Gadsby, who has 40 total touchdowns. “We’ve got JJ this season and he’s been doing great all year.”

Crescenta Valley is averaging 44 points a game and has scored 42 or more points in three consecutive games and eight games overall, having been held to less than 30 just once.

“If we execute and block the right guy and catch the ball … we should be fine,” Falcons Coach Paul Schilling said.

Defensively, the Falcons have allowed 20 or more points five times this season, but four of those instances were in blowouts. Led by the likes of defensive back Jordan Lobianco (eight interceptions), defensive lineman Davo Hakobyan (9.5 sacks) and linebacker Sean Bloks (119 tackles), the defense has allowed an average of just under 17 points per game, with the win over Harvard-Westlake coming thanks in large part to three takeaways.

“Containing [their big-play] guys is the key for us, defensively,” Schilling said.

Of course, the “it” factor of confidence might be more in favor of the Falcons than ever before after last week’s victory.

“We’re definitely more confident,” Wong said. “We’re having fun. The team chemistry is amazing right now.”

Crescenta Valley, which won its first league title since 2004, is one of two Pacific League teams remaining, along with Burbank, which travels to face Angelus League at-large Salesian. The winner of that game will take on Angelus League runner-up and No. 3 seed Cathedral or San Gabriel Valley League champ Downey.

As for the Falcons, if they advance, they’ll take on Del Rio League runner-up La Serna or No. 1 seed and Angelus League titlist St. Francis.