WHITTIER — La Serna dominated El Rancho in Friday’s Del Rio League football opener, benefitting from six interceptions on its way to a 30-13 victory.

La Serna picked off El Rancho three times in its own end zone to prevent the Dons from scoring, and Lancers’ two-way standout Jordan Bonilla had a big game.

Bonilla had one of the Lancers’ six picks and ran for a team-best 54 yards as the Lancers improved to 4-3 and 1-0 while the Dons fell to 3-3 and 0-1.

“We don’t break,” Bonilla said. “We might bend, but we don’t break. Trust in all our DBs. We got a good DB core. We got a lot of guys that can rotate. All credit to the coaches.”

While the La Serna defense was dominant, quarterback Grady Long and wide receiver Landon Armenta were just as good.

Long completed 11 of 17 passes for 189 yards with three total touchdowns to go with two interceptions. Armenda had seven receptions for 146 yards and two TDS.

Long thought he needed to limit his mistakes.

“I just need to be better,” Long said. “Just get rid of the ball when it’s not there and make plays for my team when I need to. Just keep on doing that and be good.”

Despite throwing six interceptions, El Rancho quarterback Adrian Lopez completed 13 of 22 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

Unfortunately for El Rancho, the turnovers started early and were a problem all night.

A Dons turnover allowed the Lancers to get the ball on the Dons’ 13 just moments into the game.

Long took advantage, taking a long snap and running 13 yards for a touchdown on his team’s opening drive.

After the touchdown, La Serna’s defense quickly forced an El Rancho three-and-out.

After getting a couple first downs, Long connected with Armenta for a 21-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.

“They just have outstanding chemistry and they work hard,” La Serna head coach Andy George said of his duo. “Just a beautiful ball to Landon in the corner of the end zone on that fade.”

El Rancho needed a spark to get back in it.

On its third offensive possession, the Dons dialed up a screen pass to Javier Hernandez. The play worked out perfectly as he found a hole and sprinted for a 67-yard touchdown to cut the Lancers’ lead in half.

El Rancho had an opportunity to get its second score after Jaycob Fuentes recovered a fumble.

Later, Lopez completed a 5-yard shovel pass to Ray Madrid III, and though they missed the two-point conversion, they only trailed La Serna, 14-13.

“We need to make sure we’re focused up on our keys,” El Rancho coach Adrian Medrano said. “Recognize formations and fly around to the football and make some stops.”

La Serna went on to score two more times before halftime, however.

The first was courtesy of the heroics of Armenta. He had a reception for 43 yards. Then three plays later, another for a 38-yard touchdown.

“Landon’s a dog,” Long said. “He’s a good player and has been balling all year. It was good to keep the connection rolling.”

Two drives later, the Lancers got their second interception. This time, it was from Dominic Herrera, making his first career interception.

“It was very exciting. So surreal,” Herrera said. “I’ve dreamt of this.”

After Herrera’s interception, the Lancers went downfield for a 10-play drive that ended in a 27-yard field goal before halftime.

The next score for La Serna didn’t come until the fourth quarter, when Aiden Casillas ran the ball for an 18-yard touchdown.

After Casillas’ touchdown, the Lancers’ defense had four more interceptions as El Rancho was desperately looking for a late score to get them back in the ball game.

 

Originally Published: October 4, 2025 at 12:02 AM PDT