The Los Alamitos High football team enters Sunset League play this week on a three-game losing streak, but certainly not lacking the ability to turn things around and defend its league title.
Last week’s loss came at the hands of defending LA City Section Division 1 champion Narbonne, which rallied in the fourth quarter to hand the Griffins a 35-28 loss at Long Beach Veteran’s Stadium. The Griffins came out strong and kept the explosive Gauchos offense at bay through the first half and looked to have the game in their control.
“We played real good D tonight … we wanted to slow the game down a little tonight and we did,” Griffins Head Coach John Barnes said. Los Alamitos (2-3) held the Gaucho offense scoreless in the first half, but Narbonne returned a punt 86 yards in the first quarter to keep from being shutout at halftime. While the Griffin defense was staunch in the first half, the offense contributed with two scores to take a 14-6 lead at halftime. Quarterback Jack Telenko passed for 270 yards and ran for 38 more to lead the Griffin offense.
He connected with Schuyler Whitehead for a 17-yard touchdown late in the first quarter that gave the Griffins a 7-6 lead. Late in the second Telenko capped a 69-yard touchdown drive with a five yard touchdown run that gave the Griffins a 14-6 halftime lead. The two teams would trade touchdowns in the third (Narbonne adding a two-point conversion) to make it 21-14 Los Alamitos. But the fourth quarter would belong to Narbonne. A 96-yard scoring drive would tie the score at 21-21, aided by a questionable personal foul penalty on Los Alamitos. On Los Alamitos’ ensuing possession, however, there was little question that Narbonne linebacker Lawson made a great interception to set the Gauchos up at the Griffin eight yard line.
The Gauchos capitalized with a touchdown to take a 28-21 lead and would add another before the Griffins could regain their footing. They did manage to put together a late scoring drive, capped with a three-yard touchdown pass from Telenko to Holden Edmondson with :43 seconds remaining. The drive was aided by a big-play pass completion from Telenko to Jacob Gasser. However, the Griffins’ onside kick attempt was grabbed by Narbonne to end the game. The Griffins open league play against Edison, on Thursday, Oct. 8, at Huntington Beach High. Despite their recent losses, Barnes is confident his team is ready. “We’ll be fine,” Barnes said.