Warren vs. Downey at SoFi Stadium expecting 'up to 12,000' fans

SoFi Stadium will host its first high school football game Friday night when it hosts rivals Warren and Downey.

UPDATE: Warren defeated Downey 28-21 on Oct. 13 at SoFi Stadium in front of sold out crowd (lower bowl). A total of 18,815 tickets were distributed, according to a spokesperson at Hollywood Park.

Warren High football coach Kevin Pearson thinks his team's rivalry game with Downey High at SoFi Stadium Friday night at 7 p.m. will have a huge draw.

"This game is huge for the city (of Downey) and the Gateway League. The game gets a big draw as it is, but I think it will get anywhere from 10,000 up to 12,000 people on Friday night at SoFi Stadium," Pearson said.

General admission tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at ticketmaster(.com). The game will be played the same night Mater Dei faces St. John Bosco on national television.

Warren and Downey are located in Downey, California and are separated by less than a mile. Calling it a heated rivalry game would be an understatement. Warren (5-2) has beaten Downey (6-1) in the last five matchups, including last year's 49-22 victory at Warren High.

Both teams will go into Friday night 2-0 in the Gateway League.

Pearson said talks about having this game at SoFi Stadium started well before last season, but complications over Mater Dei and St. John Bosco playing its game at SoFi in 2022 made things ambiguous. The result: no high school game was played at Hollywood Park last fall.

Downey vs. Warren will be the first high school football game played in SoFi Stadium / LABowl

However, the Downey School District was adamant about getting the game played in the state-of-the-art stadium. So, here we are in 2023 with Warren and Downey making history by playing the first high school football game in SoFi, home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.

"The district really wanted this to happen for us," Pearson said.

Downey coach Jack Williams played football for the Vikings when he was a high schooler in the 1990's and is familiar with the rivalry. He sees the value in the experience the players will get Friday night.

“I think our facilities are too small… I think it’s good for the City of Downey,” Williams told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “As a kid, you want to play in the stadium like that, you want to play in a big-time game.”

Warren plans to arrive at the stadium very early, according to Pearson.

"I want these guys to soak this up. We'll get there early so they can go on the field and take photos and videos," he said. "They're kids, this is special, and I know that. But when we head into the locker room, they know it's not about where we play, but how we play."

QB MATCHUP

The game will be highlighted by each team's quarterback.

Warren is led by junior Madden Iamaleava, who's passed for 1,522 yards and 17 TDs this season and thrown just two interceptions. Iamaleava is a 4-star recruit with offers to schools like Auburn, Miami and Ole Miss. He's the younger brother of 2023 standout at Warren, Nico Iamaleava, who is a freshman at Tennessee.

Downey has sophomore standout Oscar Rios. Rios is on a six-game winning streak as the signal caller after passing for 1,693 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. Rios also runs well. He's tallied a team-high 478 yards and five scores on just 43 carries.