Magnolia Mistakes Look Good to Los Amigos

Art Michalik, Los Amigos High School coach, couldn’t say enough good things about the Magnolia football team after the Lobos had beaten the Sentinels, 27-7, Thursday in front of 1,200 at Garden Grove Stadium.

But it was only good for Los Amigos when Magnolia committed six turnovers and had 80 yards in penalties, including some at key points, to keep alive Los Amigos touchdown drives.

A good example of how things went for Magnolia:

Trailing by just seven points in the third quarter, after Sentinel running back Tim Schmidt scored on a four-yard run, Magnolia forces Los Amigos to punt. Los Amigos punter John Kuzmic gets off a booming six-yard kick. Magnolia appears to have good field position at midfield and have a chance to . . . Oops. The Sentinels have their fifth penalty called on them. The unsportsmanlike conduct call gives Los Amigos a first down, and two plays later running back Chris Bonham scores on a a quick reverse that Michalik said he learned from Amos Alonzo Stagg.

“That’s just an old play I’ve been using for a long time,” Michalik said. “I think a lot of the mistakes made today had to do with it being so early in the season. I know we’re a young team and I think we’ll improve.”

Los Amigos wasn’t exactly the picture of efficiency, either. The offense sputtered at times with broken play after broken play. The Lobos missed two extra points and would have missed a third but quarterback Bill Thompson picked up a bad snap and ran the ball in for a two-point conversion.

Thompson’s conversion run came after Kuzmic, the Lobos’ main running back, hit wide receiver Frank Ramirez with a 23-yard option pass in the first quarter.

The Lobos increased the lead to 14-0 when Thompson completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Mark Hyatt. The 65-yard drive was carried by Kuzmic, who ran for 26 yards and Chris Bonham who had 14 yards on the drive.

Magnolia’s only score was set up by a Los Amigos penalty. A face-masking call put the Sentinels on the Lobos four-yard line. Two plays earlier 5-foot 5-inch running back James Hargis had transferred the ball from deep in Sentinel territory to deep in Los Amigos territory with a 53-yard run.

Schmidt scored on his four-yard run the play after the penalty.