ANAHEIM — After platooning at the quarterback position last season, Cypress quarterback Justin Hall has the job all to himself for the 2026 campaign.
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Judging by Hall’s performance in the Centurions’ 42-7 victory over Cerritos to open the season Thursday at Western High School, the junior will likely present a significant challenge to opposing secondaries all season.
Hall completed 11 of 16 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns, including touchdowns of 34 and 50 yards to sophomore wide receiver Ian Do, who finished with six receptions for 182 yards.
The offensive line for Cypress (1-0) did an excellent job protecting Hall, who rarely faced pressure from the Dons’ defense
“All credit to my guys up front,” said Hall, who played in all 10 games last season, completing 68 of 133 passes for 907 yards and eight touchdowns while sharing time with Xavier Guerrero.
“Receivers got incredible separation. It was one step and they were gone. I knew what (the Dons) were going to do and what my guys were doing. We knew how to beat them and we just had to execute.”
The Centurions scored on all five possessions in the first half while allowing the Dons to cross the 50 in one of six possessions in the half.
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Cypress also held the Dons (0-1) to only one first down in the half.
“The defense was flying around and playing super-fast,” Cypress coach Rick Feldman said.
Jaiden Anthony’s two-yard touchdown run opened the scoring for Centurions on their first possession of the game.
From there, the passing game took over for Cypress.
A 33-yard punt return from Matt Rodriguez gave the Centurions possession on the Cerritos 32 and Hall connected with Mekaih Felix for a two-yard touchdown six plays later.
Hall threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Caden Rynders, making the score 21-0.
An interception from Louden Aljian gave Cypress the ball on the Cerritos 34 and Hall connected with Do for a 34 yard score on the next play.
After receiving the second-half kickoff, Cypress needed just two plays to score when Hall connected with Do for his 50-yard score.
“I was just wide-open,” said Do, who saw plenty of varsity action as a freshman. “Justin and I have really good chemistry. We just went out there and balled out.”
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