Life has been sweet for Chavez in the SJAA.
Back-to-back league titles. Unbeaten since 2024. Every league win last season was by at least 28 points.
And there’s still no bitter ending in sight.
Even one of the SJAA’s biggest threats couldn’t slow it down, as Chavez (4-2) overwhelmed Tokay (4-2) on both sides of the ball in a 49-14 home win Friday, Oct. 2, to keep the sweet times rolling.
“We practice real hard,” coach Derek Graves said. “Before the staff got here, we were the worst team in this league, the laughingstock of the 209. But now, we have a standard here. We get after it, and it’s gonna show.”
The players who helped build that standard put it on display offensively.
Quarterback Elijah Walker crossed 6,000 career passing yards and 80 passing touchdowns
while completing 18 of 24 passes for 236 yards and five scores. Three found Oregon State commit Jackson Batch, who totaled 102 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
“It’s about the brotherhood,” Batch said. “We all understand that we lack size, and a lot of people try to take advantage of that. It just never works because we’re always going to win the fight at the end of the day.”
Walker added, “It starts with our alpha, Derek Graves, our head coach. He’s established a great thing here. We’re lifers.”
That standard doesn’t disappear when the offense leaves the field.
Mason Zeer and Jayden Segura entered averaging nearly 157 rushing yards through Tokay’s first five games. Chavez erased them, holding the duo to 71 combined yards, with 52 and a Zeer touchdown coming during a running-clock fourth quarter.
It didn’t stop there.
Jeremiah Ward blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown, Alejandro Aguilar Jr. recovered a fumble and Jimmy Ducksworth intercepted a pass.
“We’re not able to put up as many points as we do without them,” Walker said. “Their huge stops help us execute on offense.”
Graves added, “Shout out to our defensive staff. Those guys push me to be a better coach with their effort, the time they spend on Hudl and watching film. They’re on some Kobe Bryant stuff, and it shows week after week.”
'All of us together'
Breaking records is nothing new for Elijah Walker.
As a freshman, he quarterbacked Chavez to its first league title. A year later, he helped deliver the first undefeated regular season.
Just don’t expect him to take much credit for any of it.
“Can’t do nothing without my line and, obviously, my skill guys,” Walker said. “It’s all of us together. They’re unstoppable.”
From the opening drive, Walker played like a quarterback who knew exactly what he had around him.
Three offensive plays were all Chavez needed before he found Branden Mascarenas for a 10-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Tokay answered when Nico Sinigaglia, who finished with a season-low 79 passing yards, connected with Mason Addington for a touchdown.
The tie didn’t last long.
Four plays later, Walker found Ducksworth for a 45-yard touchdown to end the first quarter.
“Our linemen did amazing work, and our defense was just lights out,” Batch said. “Quarterback did great. Everybody was just doing their job.”
Knowing what he has around him allows Walker to let everyone else do their jobs, too.
A blocked punt became a touchdown and a 21-7 lead. Batch hauled in a 12-yard touchdown to make it 28-7.
Then Izzac Tapia, who rushed for 126 yards on 12 carries, scored to push it to 35-7.
“We were complacent against McNair, and it wasn’t to our standard,” Graves said. “Bear Creek didn’t reflect what we could do, even though we were up by a lot. But we came with the right tenacity and mindset this week.”
'He'll go get it'
Some games naturally carry a little more motivation, a little more energy.
For Batch, who spent his freshman year at Tokay, this one did.
The first half offered a glimpse with 38 receiving yards and a toe-tap touchdown.
In the second, the three-star recruit took over.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Walker said. “All I have to do is throw it up, and he’ll go get it.”
Three catches on Chavez’s opening drive ended with Batch hauling in an 8-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7 to make it 42-7.
His best move, though, was still coming.
Following Ducksworth’s interception, Batch picked up 13 yards before Chavez went back to him on a fake screen. He sold it perfectly, sent his defender the wrong way and walked in untouched for a 21-yard touchdown to close the quarter.
And, for all intents and purposes, the game.
The score triggered a running clock.
“I knew they were eventually gonna start double-teaming me,” Batch said. “We just picked them apart all night. We talked to the guys in the booth, worked it out and found what was open.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Chavez football continues SJAA dominance in statement rout of Tokay
