The Warren High School football team was not concerned with its narrow escape against Gahr, only that it did escape to put itself in position to repeat as San Gabriel Valley League champion.

A victory over cross-town rival Downey in the regular-season finale Friday at Warren and the Bears (8-1, 4-1) again win the title.

Downey (3-6, 2-2) is coming off a 35-10 loss to Lynwood (5-4, 2-2).

Thanks to University of Washington-bound running back Jesse Callier having another eye-popping performance and a late interception, the Bears held off Gahr (5-4, 2-2) for a 35-31 victory.

Gahr wanted to prevent Callier from breaking big runs, but was unsuccessful.

The Warren tailback had other ideas, rushing for 303 yards on 45 carries and scoring five touchdowns, highlighted by a 65-yarder.

“We wanted to make sure he didn’t bust those runs,” Gahr coach Greg Marshall said. “Those are the ones that hurt.”

Gladiator quarterback Casey Nielsen leads the state with 3,452 passing yards and added four more touchdowns to his resume Friday night, pushing his totals to 34 for the season.

Callier was too much to handle for Gahr.

In the first quarter, he ran 38 and 12 yards for TDs and opened the second quarter with a 12-yard score to end a 55-yard drive.

“It was a great team effort, it wasn’t just me,” Callier, who has 34 TDs and more than 2,300 yards rushing this year, said. “The line got a good push for me tonight.”

Gahr carries three legitimate threats down the field for Nielsen, spearheaded by Shaan Johnson’s 13 touchdowns and 1,219 receiving yards. Second is Josh Perkins with eight TD catches and Delshawn McClellon follows with 664 receiving yards.

Besides responding to Warren’s two quick scores with a TD pass to Johnson with less than three minutes left in the first quarter, Nielsen struggled to find his receivers early on a cold and foggy night. But the Bears’ defense had a hard time dealing with Nielsen, who used his speed and versatility to create plays outside the pocket.

In a drive that included three incomplete passes and a near interception in the end zone, Nielsen finished a 36-yard drive hooking up with Dwayne Washington on a 20-yard score with 5:42 to go.

Gahr’s special teams caught the Bears off guard by then recovering an onside kick that bounced off junior Jamil Magee.

The Gladiators however failed to take advantage when Nielsen got picked by linebacker Josh Guerrero at the 4-yard line. He and running back Brenton Allen got Gahr to the red zone before Nielsen threw one of his two interceptions on the night.

“Casey wasn’t his sharpest tonight,” Marshall said. “His ball was floating and he got too conservative at times.”

Nielsen, who was 32-of-50 for 376 yards, found his favorite target, Johnson, once again on the second play of the third quarter with a 40-yard scoring pass and later for a 5-yard touchdown that pulled Gahr to within, 35-28 with 1:13 to go in the quarter.

Gahr, who was attempting to clinch a playoff berth, recovered another onside kick at Warren’s 34. Nielsen’s scrambling abilities were on full display, but he threw three incomplete passes, forcing Gahr to settle for a 37-yard field that cut the Warren lead to 35-31.

The Bears were driving for another score when Gahr senior Emmanuel Wyatt stripped a Sam Bettancourt pass from Bailey Cowins in the end zone for an interception.

But for one of the few times, the Bears sacked Nielsen to put a stop to the drive.

“They’re a lot quicker and athletic than we thought,” Marshall said. “Finding space was hard.”

Callier, who also plays cornerback, had nothing but praise for Gahr’s offense.

“They had me on my toes the whole night, (a) big up to their receivers,” Callier said.

Gahr faces Paramount Friday.