By Matthew Robinson
SAN FERNANDO- The San Fernando Tigers on Saturday faced a focused and methodical Heritage Christian Warriors team that was eager to set the tone of the game from the first quarter until the game ended. The Warriors’ defense forced a quick three-and-out on the Tigers’ first offensive drive and from there it was all Warriors. The visiting Warriors raced to a 27-0 lead by the 1:26 mark of the first quarter, aided by an effective passing game and stingy defensive play. That commanding first quarter gave the Warriors all the momentum they would need en route to a 37-7 victory over the Tigers at Kevin Williams Stadium.
The Tigers (0-1) before this game even started were hamstrung by the graduation of a stellar 2025 senior class, a few key players not receiving clearance to play in Saturday’s game, and injuries. One of those players who was not cleared to play was senior transfer quarterback Jakhai Johnson. His absence was key because when Jayden Breazell was having his struggles, Johnson could have been that conduit of relief for the Tigers offense. Meanwhile, the Tigers’ best defensive players, senior defensive end Christopher Mosqueda and linebacker Bryce Robinson, weren’t available for Friday night’s game due to injuries.
San Fernando Tigers Head Coach Charles Burnley was aware of what he was up against before and during Friday’s contest against the Warriors (1-0).
“We knew that we would have an uphill battle because we knew that we weren’t going to be fielding guys that we felt were impact players because there were some clearance issues,” Burnley revealed. “Not wanting to make excuses, but I knew it would be an uphill challenge based on that fact.”
Burnley was right, because the Tigers could have used the services of Mosqueda and Robinson against the Warriors to put constant pressure on Thompson and cut off the quarterback’s outside running lanes, which enabled him to further annoy the Tigers’ defense.
Tigers senior quarterback Jayden Breazell, who notched his first start against the Warriors, had a devil of a time completing passes or getting in sync with his receivers. For the game, Breazell went 9 for 27 for 63 yards, 1 touchdown pass, and 1 interception. He also carried the ball 6 times for minus 13 yards. He was sacked twice.
Senior Tigers running back/middle linebacker Brandan Marshall (1 tackle, 1 quarterback pressure on defense), who is regarded as one of the focal points of this team’s offense for 2026, had a decent game against the Warriors. He carried 10 times for 67 yards and no score. Marshall is a hard-running short-yardage back, and in a game where fast points were needed to combat the Warriors’ quick scoring offense Marshall wasn’t used as much as he would have liked. He gained most of his yards in the second half, and quite frankly, his running in the second half was all the Tigers offense had going for them.
Senior wide receiver/safety Uriel Barbosa (2 tackles, 1 interception) ended up leading the Tigers in the receiving department on Friday as he caught 3 passes for 31 yards and his team’s only score in the fourth quarter, a 15-yard corner of the end zone scoring catch. Before this game, he was seen as the third or fourth receiving option in Breazell’s passing progression, but versus the Warriors, he stepped up when he and the quarterback were on the same page here and there in the first and second halves.
Even amid this crushing loss, the Tigers may have found some players that could help them down the line, such as senior outside linebacker Roberto Meza, who was in on 7 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1 QB pressure. Fellow senior and defensive end Jose Holguin didn’t even suit up for the Tigers last year, but he was present on Friday with 4 QB hurries, 2 QB pressures, and 1 tackle. Then there was junior returnee cornerback Ayden Celis, who was in on 3 tackles, and he had a huge hit on a Warriors receiver that forced a fumble (the Warriors recovered the fumble). He was assigned to cover Warriors wide receiver Logan Coleman, and Celis limited the receiver to just 1 catch for 8 yards for the entire game. Senior outside linebacker Luis Marrero (6 tackles, 3 solos, and 2 tackles for loss) is an active defender who needs time to fulfill his potential. Senior hybrid defensive back/linebacker Tru Trevino (4 tackles, .5 sack, 1 TFL, and 1 QB pressure) is an active defender, but like Marrero, he will have to make more game-impacting plays going forward.
While Breazell was going through the rinse cycle mentally and physically on Friday, Heritage Christian senior quarterback James Thompson was having the game of his life. The athletic and nifty signal caller went 9 of 15 for 187 yards, 3 touchdown passes, and 1 interception. That interception took place late in the third quarter by Barbosa. Thompson also carried the ball 3 times for 55 yards, which included a 27-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter.
Thompson on Friday was the true measure of team play as far as the distribution of his passes, as seven of his offensive teammates caught passes from him. The Warriors’ leading receiver was sophomore Nathan Brown, who caught 3 passes for 55 yards, which included a 28-yard catch versus double coverage in the second half.
The Warriors will be a serious threat to their upcoming opponents, which include some solid Southern Section teams like Hart, Village Christian, and Agoura, plus the teams from their own league, the Ironwood League. And give Burnley credit, he knew what type of team he was up against on Friday. He knew that the Warriors would challenge his team from the opening kickoff until the game clock reached triple zeroes.
“They’re [Heritage Christian] a well-coached team,” Burnley said. “We didn’t expect to just come in here and run all over Heritage Christian.”
Watching game film is one of the most important aspects of football, as it helps teams and coaches understand their strengths and weaknesses as a team.
“I’m going to go back and look at the [game] film and coaches are going to go back and look at the film, and we’ll figure out what happened and how we can get better,” Burnley said.
It’s not necessarily a good thing when the MVP of a game for a team is either the kicker or punter, but that’s what happened on Friday to the Tigers. But aside from that, the Tigers may have found their new kicker and punter in senior kicker/punter Bruno Lopez, who never played football for the black and gold before this season. Lopez punted 4 times for 119 yards with his longest punt traveling 51 yards. He also was 1 for 1 on his point-after-touchdown kick (PAT).
The Warriors started off the game’s scoring when Thompson took the snap and with pressure coming from both sides of the Tigers’ defensive line, fired a pass slightly to his left, which ended up in the hands of junior receiver Donovan Kelley, who leapt into the air to accept the pass. After catching the pass, Kelley ran into the end zone to complete the 25-yard scoring catch. Junior kicker Gerg Nikolian came in and kicked the extra point to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first quarter.
After the Tigers couldn’t get much going on offense, which included not getting past their own 27-yard line on their first offensive possession, the Warriors took over at the Tigers’ 43-yard line after a Lopez punt. On the second play of their second offensive drive of the game, Thompson took the snap and ran to his right where he beat QB pressures from junior defensive end Joseph Arias, Holguin, and Trevino to complete a pass to senior wide receiver Gavin Park. The receiver caught the pass inside the Tiger 20-yard line, then he proceeded to race untouched into the end zone to complete a 39-yard scoring play. The score moved to 14-0 with Nikolian’s successful PAT kick with 3:26 left in the first quarter.
Who would have thought at the time that all the Warriors would need to beat the Tigers was 14 points by the 3:26 mark of the first quarter?
Then, if things weren’t bad enough for the Tigers, a bad snap sailed over the head of Lopez, with the ball ending up in the end zone where Warriors junior linebacker Justin Rocha fell on the ball. Rocha’s fumble recovery in the end zone and Nikolian’s true PAT kick gave the visitors a 21-0 lead with 1:26 left in the first quarter.
Two more scoring plays——a 45-yard Max Carrillo touchdown catch and Thompson’s 27-yard TD run—–by the Warriors sent the score to 34-0 with 5:56 left in the second quarter. The game was getting seriously out of hand at that point, as the Tigers had no answer on either side of the ball for the Warriors.
The Warriors scored their last points of the game in the second quarter via a 20-yard field goal by Nikolian, which gave them a 37-0 lead at halftime.
By the time the fourth quarter started, the game’s officials (referees and Los Angeles City Section compliance people) wanted a running clock and they got it.
The Tigers received their only score of the game when Barbosa took in a 15-yard corner of the end zone scoring catch, with Lopez connecting on the PAT kick. Those plays moved the score to its final tally of 37-7 with 8:25 left in the game.
Next week, the Tigers will host the Poly Parrots (0-1), coming off a 37-16 loss to the Taft Toreadors on Friday. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm.