PREP FOOTBALL : Empire League : Defense Leads Los Alamitos to 17-10 Victory

Los Alamitos High School looked sluggish in its homecoming football game against Cypress Thursday night, but the defense was sufficiently sharp to lead the Griffins to a 17-10 Empire League victory over the Centurions at Gahr High.

It was hardly the style of football that second-place Los Alamitos (3-1, 6-1) played in a 23-14 upset of Esperanza last week. But Griffin Coach John Barnes was still smiling afterward, perhaps relieved at the thought that there will be no more homecomings until 1987.

“I’ll take it,” Barnes said. “I hate homecoming. . . . The kids had a party at school all day. I said if we win, 2-0, I’ll be happy. So now I’m happy.”

The teams floundered in the first half--especially on offense. Cypress (2-2, 4-3) started the game’s first drive toward the end of the second quarter, but it ended at the Griffin four-yard line when a fourth-down pass by David Brunet intended for Jason Friedman in the end zone was broken up by defensive backs Ryan Blossey and Bob Sylvia.

So the Centurions settled for Lee Milton’s 20-yard field goal, which seemed to remind Los Alamitos that crowning a queen wasn’t necessarily the night’s only purpose.

The Griffins finally earned a first down with 2:03 to go in the first half when Tom Williamson threw a 17-yard pass to Ken Montgomery. Williamson then completed three more passes in short order. On first and goal at the 10, wide receiver Rob Nen leaped high above defender Mike Gee, who played a fine game, and grabbed Williamson’s pass for the touchdown.

The halftime stats were nothing to excite the crowd of 2,300. Cypress had 105 yards in total offense and 6 first downs to the Griffins’ 93 yards and 3 first downs.

The Griffins settled down early in the third quarter, advancing 75 yards on 10 plays and scoring on a 1-yard run by tailback Neil Sorensen. Dino Syrengelas’ kick put them ahead, 14-3, with 7:47 left in the quarter.

Cypress still was in the game, but then two bad events befell the Centurions, who are a greatly improved team under the guidance of first-year Coach John Selbe, on their next drive.

First, Centurion guard Eddie Buras injured his knee. As soon as he had limped off the field with his leg encased in an air bag, Brunet threw an interception over the middle to Griffin Sam Hardin at the Centurion 30-yard line.

Syrengelas kicked a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Cypress tried to rally, scoring once more on an 11-yard pass from Brunet to Friedman with 2:05 left, but as Selbe said, “It was too little, too late.”

Los Alamitos finished with 252 yards total offense. Williamson completed 10 of 18 passes for 139 yards and fullback Mike Cole ran for 87 yards in 15 carries. The Centurions, who had 235 yards total offense, were led by Brunet’s 11 completions in 22 attempts for 134 yards. Tailback Blaise Bryant was held to 58 yards in 18 carries.