Orange County Prep Football : Los Amigos Plans to Zero In on Cheatham

Art Michalik, the football coach at Los Amigos High School, has a very direct, simple game plan for tonight: Stop Sean Cheatham. But that won’t be easy.

Only four games into the season, Cheatham has rushed for 788 yards and scored 100 points in 109 carries--the best rushing and scoring performance in Orange County so far. For sake of comparison, Valencia’s Keef Leasure, the next-highest scorer, has 54 points.

“He’s (Cheatham) a true running back,” said Michalik, whose Los Amigos team (0-1 in conference play, 1-3 overall) meets Rancho Alamitos (1-0, 4-0) tonight in a Garden Grove League game at Bolsa Grande High School. “He’s not a Johnny-come-lately. He can start for any team in the county.”

In nonleague games, Los Amigos has defeated Magnolia (0-4) and lost to Estancia (2-2) and Trabuco Hills (4-0). Last week, in its league opener, Los Amigos lost, 17-0, to Pacifica (2-1-1).

But Rancho Alamitos Coach Mark Miller said that against Los Amigos, his explosive offense, which has scored 154 points, might score fewer than 30 for the first time this season.

“I anticipate a physical football game,” Miller said. “Los Amigos has a good defense and always manages to sneak into the playoffs. It looks like our competition is getting tougher as we get into the league.”

Miller doesn’t intend to change his game plan. “I’ve learned that you don’t fix something when it’s working,” he said.

Rancho Alamitos quarterback Rod McCall has completed 12 of 22 passes for 236 yards and 3 touchdowns. Even backup quarterback David Singletary has passed for 160 yards in brief appearances. Receiver Charles Panusis is averaging over 25 yards per catch.

“When we do pass, we pass effectively instead of a lot,” Miller said.

Los Amigos quarterback Andy Baturevich has completed 44 of 82 passes for 470 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In another key game:

Irvine (2-2) vs. Villa Park (3-1) in Fred Kelly Stadium--Coach Terry Henigan will take his Vaqueros--who rallied in the final seconds to beat Saddleback, 15-14, last week--against the Spartans, whose only loss was to El Toro, ranked No. 1 in Orange County last week before being upset by El Modena.

In other games:

Huntington Beach vs. Mater Dei in Santa Ana Stadium; Sonora vs. Magnolia in Glover Stadium; Brea-Olinda vs. Sunny Hills on Spaulding Field; Valencia vs. Cypress in Handel Stadium; Miraleste vs. Trabuco Hills in Mission Viejo Stadium, and Roland vs. El Dorado in Bradford Stadium.