LANCASTER — The seniors on the Desert Christian football team got their first playoff victory on Friday night.

The Knights won their first playoff game in four years with a 34-9 victory over Malibu in a CIF-Southern Section 8-man Division 2 first-round victory at Lancaster High School.

“It feels amazing. We haven’t done that,” Desert Christian senior Justin Green said. “It feels great. We plan on going on this run.”

Desert Christian (7-3) will play at Hesperia Christian (7-3) in the quarterfinals next week. Hesperia Christian defeated ACE 26-13 in the first round on Friday.

Desert Christian lost a first-round playoff game to Hesperia Christian last season, the Knights’ first playoff appearance since advancing to the second round in 2021.

“It was great, too, because these guys just haven’t experienced it,” Desert Christian coach Aaron Williams said. “We’ve had tough draws in the past with playoffs. It’s a real testament to our season where we can host a home game and play a good team like Malibu.

“It was a good win. Hopefully we can carry that into next week.”

Desert Christian took control of the game on the first play of their second possession.

Green ran for a 71-yard touchdown on the first play of the Knights’ second drive to give them a 6-3 lead with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Green scored again on Desert Christian’s third possession, this time on a 6-yard run to cap a seven-play, 58-yard drive and give the Knights a 14-3 lead with 9:47 left in the second quarter. Senior quarterback Andrew Silva ran in the two-point conversion.

“I feel great. Obviously we came out hot. We came out great,” Green said. “We played a really good first half. Some mistakes to fix. We played the second half a little wobbly. We still have mistakes to fix, but we executed it almost to how we envisioned it.”

Malibu junior Maxson Chiate missed a 23-yard field goal with 5:39 left in the first half.

The Desert Christian offense immediately capitalized on the missed field goal.

Desert Christian senior Raymond Latimore scored on a 65-yard touchdown run on the first play, giving the Knights a 21-3 lead with 5:26 remaining in the first half.

“It feels incredible,” Latimore said. “I can’t describe it. It’s incredible.”

Desert Christian senior Kenneth Castillo missed a 25-yard field goal with 2:10 remaining in the first half.

Chiate made a 13-yard field goal to cap the opening drive of the game and give the Sharks a quick 3-0 lead.

“When we weren’t getting penalties, I felt like they were fantastic,” Williams said. “A lot of times, especially early on, we were shooting ourselves in the foot. The defense, we would play great for a couple of times and then we would just make a bonehead penalty, so it was a little frustrating there.”

Desert Christian was penalized 15 times for 140 yards in the game.

The Desert Christian offense finished with 413 total yards, as the Knights rushed for 292 yards on a combined 29 carries by five players.

Latimore rushed for 191 yards on 16 carries and caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Silva with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cap the scoring for the Knights, giving them a 34-3 lead.

Latimore said teamwork was the key for the Knights and credited the offensive line for the Knights’ offensive night.

Latimore believes the Knights can carry the success into the next round.

“Watching film and staying disciplined in practice,” Latimore said.

The Desert Christian offense scored on the opening possession of the second half.

Desert Christian senior Stephen Wiser caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Green to cap a seven-play, 50-yard drive to give the Knights a 28-3 lead.

“Overall, I felt like the guys rallied. We did a great job of running the ball well,” Williams said. “We knew that we could rely on Ray, when push comes to shove, that’s the guy. But we have a lot of weapons, Stephen and Justin, so hopefully that was put on display for everybody to see that we’re not a one-trick pony and our offense is really good.

“I think our defense made more of a statement tonight, probably more than our offense, in just allowing the three points. I was happy with the overall victory.”

Silva completed 5-of-13 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown. Wiser caught three passes for 66 yards.

Green completed 1-of-2 passes for 25 yards and rushed for 97 yards on six carries.

Wiser also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, as did sophomore Asiyah White on a two-point conversion attempt by Malibu. Wiser also broke up a pass in the third quarter

Malibu senior Tanner Kies scored on a 50-yard punt return with 9:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Kies rushed for 104 yards on 20 carries.

Malibu junior quarterback Sawyer Keegan completed 9-of-24 passes for 105 yards.

The Sharks finished with 177 total yards in offense, just 67 yards in the second half.

Desert Christian sophomore Franky Arcidiacono and junior Didiel Molina Reyes each had a sack in the second half for the Knights’ defense.

The two teams faced off less than a month ago, with Desert Christian winning 32-15 on Oct. 11 at home.

The Knights then lost two straight league games, to Faith Baptist (62-0) and Lancaster Baptist (38-34), to end the regular season.

Desert Christian finished in the three-way tie for second place in the Heritage League this season, with Lancaster Baptist and Santa Clarita Christian, all finishing with 2-2 records. Faith Baptist went undefeated at 4-0 to win the league title.

Desert Christian lost a first-round playoff game last season, 80-42, to Hesperia Christian. It was the first playoff appearance for the Knights in three seasons.

Desert Christian won a first-round playoff game in 2021, beating Cuyama Valley 64-28. The Knights then lost to CSDR in the second round, 84-12.

The first-round playoff win in 2021 was the first playoff victory for Desert Christian in 10 years and first since the Knights switched to 8-man football.

Desert Christian advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division 13 championship game in 2011, losing to Rio Hondo Prep, 34-13.