Los Alamitos High head football coach John Barnes reached a plateau in his long and illustrious career, boldly going where no other Orange County coach has gone before.
Los Alamitos High head football coach John Barnes reached a plateau in his long and illustrious career, boldly going where no other Orange County coach has gone before.
On Thursday, Oct. 4, a fired up Los Al football team opened Sunset League play with a 46-0 beat down of visiting Marina, making Barnes the first coach from Orange County and the fourth from California to win 300 career games.
The ensuing celebration and trophy presentation at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Long Beach City College left barely a dry eye in the house as Barnes received hugs from past and present players, including his son, Tesoro head coach Brian Barnes.
Los Alamitos School District Superintendent, Dr. Sherry Kropp, whose son once played quarterback for Barnes, and CIF Director Rob Wigod delivered congratulatory speeches, praising the man of the hour, who then got on the microphone to address the 2,000 fans in attendance.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Barnes, who credited in order, his family, the coaching staff, the community, and the football program. “The emotion is almost too much to comprehend…I’m touched.”
The Griffins (5-1, 1-0) essentially defeated the Vikings – try as they might – in the first quarter, but played hard until the final second, scoring on their first six possessions and never allowing the opposition to drive deeper than their own 29-yard line.
Senior quarterback Cody Marshall, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 175 yards, picked apart the Vikings defense, throwing for three touchdowns and running for two. He also scored three of those in the first quarter as the Griffins jumped out to a 32-0 lead.
His first touchdown occurred on the second play of the opening drive, when he connected with wide receiver Dashawn Gordon in the flat for a 40-yard touchdown. Marshall and running back Richie Molina scored on one-yard touchdown runs and receiver Josh Davis then followed with a 44-yard reception for his first touchdown of the game to give the Griffins a 25-0 edge.
“Coach just kept calling great plays,” said Marshall, whose offensive line provided ample time by refusing to budge in the trenches.
The Griffins defense lit up the scoreboard next, doing the deed with its third interception of the first quarter. Safety Demonte King snagged the first pair, and fellow defensive back Derrick Worthy would grab one in the second quarter. But defensive end Matt Locher earned the only pick six of the game by tipping a low pass and doing a juggling act that turned into a 20-yard return for a touchdown.
“Man, we were so fired up tonight,” said King, a junior transfer from rival Edison. “I’m telling you, we seriously were. Coach did say, ‘hey, don’t you worry about getting me to 300,’ but how can you not? Oh, yeah, we did want to start off league the right way, too.”
In the second quarter, the Griffins refused to slow down. After Worthy’s interception placed the ball on the 3-yard line, the Vikings defense momentarily stiffened to force a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, which led to Marshall scoring with another sneak. The Griffins then strung together a quick three-play drive to chalk up their final score of the half – and the game. It featured a 30-yard pass to Long Beach Poly transfer Kendall Brownlow, as well as a five-yard strike to Davis, who came down with the toss while in traffic in the middle of the end zone.
“We just wanted to do this for our coach so bad” Marshall said.
Indeed, the Griffins seemed more excited about the 300th win than Barnes, waiting in line to hug him while wearing white T-shirts that marked the occasion. They return to action next week against rival Edison (5-1, 1-0) on Thursday, Oct. 11 at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.
Last year, the Chargers defeated the Griffins, 10-7 and the Griffins would eventually fail to make the playoffs – a rare occurrence for Barnes and company.
Indeed, Barnes has amassed staggering statistics over the course of his 34-year career. He owns a record of 300-98-10, four CIF championships – three in a row from 1990-1993 – and 16 Sunset League titles.
He grew up in Long Beach, watching Long Beach City College and Long Beach Poly High play football at Veterans Memorial Stadium. He later became a star football player at both St. Anthony’s High School and Long Beach City College.
In 1978, Barnes earned his first head-coaching job at Magnolia High in Anaheim, where he only won two games as a rookie coach, but his first victory did hand Cypress its only loss of the season. In 1979, Barnes became the head coach of Los Alamitos, where he would lose his first two games before defeating Huntington Beach.
When asked the secret of his success, he just smiled, and gave the following reply:
“You know, I am just thankful to have been able to coach for so long.”