Los Alamitos football cruises over Corona del Mar in Sunset League opener
Junior quarterback Malachi Nelson has committed to play football at Oklahoma University.
So have junior receivers Makai Lemon and DeAndre Moore.
Coming into Thursday night’s Sunset League football opener, Corona del Mar coach Dan O’Shea knew his Sea Kings had their hands full when dealing with defending league champion Los Alamitos.
“I think athletic-talent wise, they’re as good as any team that’s a public school in Orange County in the last 25 years,” O’Shea said. “If you look at the best teams in Orange County public schools the last 25 years, you look at 2005 Mission Viejo and 2002 Los Al. I think they can play with all of them. They’re a talented group, for sure, and we could not get them off their comfort zone at all.”
Tasked with playing great to stay with the Griffins, the Sea Kings fell short. Los Alamitos took control early and earned a 42-14 victory at Westminster High.
Nelson threw four touchdown passes for Los Alamitos (5-1), which was coming off a 42-21 loss to Santa Margarita on Sept. 17 but had a bye week to straighten things out. Two of the touchdown passes went to Moore, a transfer from Nevada, including an electric one late where Moore shed tackles before diving into the end zone.
“I thought we did a good job in our bye week and then this week, in our focus of coming down after our loss,” Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton said. “We wanted to redeem, that we were a better football team than we showed. Our kids came together, and I thought that was the most important thing they did, even tonight. Tonight was a byproduct of them coming together.”
Gavin Porch, another of the Griffins’ talented juniors, also had a 44-yard touchdown run and caught a score from Nelson.
The Griffins scored touchdowns on each of their first possessions, grabbing a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter. The third score was aided by holding CdM to a three-and-out, before a six-yard CdM punt set up Los Alamitos on the Sea Kings’ 14-yard line.
Two plays later, the Griffins’ junior tight end Sinn Brennan ran up the middle for a one-yard score.
CdM (5-1), which suffered its first loss of the season, tried to respond. Junior quarterback David Rasor, who later also ran for a score, hit senior receiver John Tipton on a 22-yard touchdown pass. Tipton tip-toed in the back of the end zone to get his feet down.
But the Sea Kings couldn’t get another good drive going, and fell behind 28-7 at halftime after Nelson found Lemon on a 15-yard score in the final minute of the first half.
Ethan O’Connor had a red-zone interception early in the second half for the winners.
“Field position was tough all night,” O’Shea said. “We couldn’t get in a rhythm offensively. We had two long drives early in the game that we gave up touchdowns on, and it got away from us a little bit. Even still, I think we had a chance after we scored. We needed to get a turnover to steal a possession, and we just couldn’t do it tonight. We thought we needed to have two turnovers and play well, and we had neither of those against a really good football team.”
Charlie Mannon had a pair of quarterback sacks for CdM, and Nathan Bloom also had a sack. But Nelson, the No. 2-ranked junior quarterback in the country by 247Sports, stayed calm and composed throughout behind the Griffins’ experienced offensive line.
Fenton seemed to appreciate O’Shea’s comment comparing this year’s Griffins to the 2002 Los Alamitos team, which won the program’s only Division 1 title.
“A bunch of NFL guys on that team in 2002, and that’s hopefully what we have going here too,” he said. “You see them every day. You don’t want to get to a point where you take them for granted, so you force yourself to take a step back and watch some of the stuff that they do. They’re generational guys, and to be around them is a pretty amazing experience. You can’t take it for granted, just continue to be grateful that those kids are in your program. It’s their program, and they’re taking ownership of it. It’s a lot of fun.”
Los Alamitos hosts Edison in another key league game Thursday at Westminster High, while CdM hosts Huntington Beach on Oct. 8 at Davidson Field.
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Sunset League
Los Alamitos 42, Corona del Mar 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Corona del Mar 0 – 7 – 0 – 7 — 14
Los Alamitos 7 – 21 – 7 – 7 — 42
FIRST QUARTER
LA – Moore 9 pass from Nelson (McLaghlan kick), 7:26.
SECOND QUARTER
LA – Porch 14 pass from Nelson (McLaghlan kick), 11:14.
LA – Brennan 1 run (McLaghlan kick), 8:31.
CdM – Tipton 22 pass from Rasor (Hopkin kick), 5:46.
LA – Lemon 15 pass from Nelson (McLaghlan kick), 0:27.
THIRD QUARTER
LA – Porch 44 run (McLaghlan kick), 0:48.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM – Rasor 3 run (Hopkin kick), 6:26.
LA – Moore 18 pass from Nelson (McLaghlan kick), 2:10.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM – Sanders, 15-45.
LA – Porch, 6-64, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM– Rasor, 9-21-1, 176, 1 TD.
LA – Nelson, 14-21-0, 155, 4 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM – Tipton, 5-158, 1 TD.
LA – Lemon, 4-57, 1 TD.
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