Roundup

Montebello 29, Fullerton 27--Wide receiver Jose Meza caught four touchdown passes from quarterback Ray Maldonado to lead Montebello (1-2) in the nonleague victory at home.

Fullerton’s last drive ended when Montebello’s Michael Valenzuela recovered a fumble at the Montebello 35 with a minute left. Fullerton fumbled 8 times and lost 5.

After a first-quarter field goal that put Montebello ahead, 3-0, Meza caught his first touchdown pass for 37 yards. He then added a 3-yard scoring catch late in the second quarter to give Montebello a 17-7 lead at the half.

Fullerton’s Steve DePhillips, who gained 223 yards in 19 carries, scored the first of his 3 touchdowns midway through the second quarter on an 11-yard run. Meza caught a 7-yard scoring pass to put Montebello ahead, 23-7, early in the third quarter.

But the Montebello defense could not shut down DePhillips. He raced 70 yards, breaking 4 tackles, to put Fullerton back in the game, 23-14, in the middle of the third quarter.

This time Meza caught a 48-yard scoring pass and Montebello led, 29-14, early in the fourth quarter. Meza had 5 catches for 105 yards. Ray Maldonado was 12 of 18 for 152 yards with 4 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Fullerton came back on Rene Arias’ 1-yard run late in the third quarter and DePhillips’ 3-yard run to cut the lead to 29-27.

Los Alamitos 48, Culver City 0--Though Culver City High School’s football team didn’t travel out of Los Angeles County to face Los Alamitos, the Centaurs probably wished they had stayed a little closer to home.

Los Alamitos (2-0-1) rolled up a 42-0 lead and 396 yards in total offense in the first half, and then coasted to the victory at Cerritos High School.

Four Los Alamitos running backs scored touchdowns before halftime, including two in the first quarter by tailback Christopher Stewart. Senior Mike Dechert replaced Stewart after his two scores and proceeded to gain 107 yards in 8 carries in the half, including a 10-yard scoring run early in the second quarter.

Next in the procession of tailbacks was sophomore LeQuan Beckton, who closed out the Griffins’ first-half rushing barrage with a 9-yard run.

“We have a nice stable of backs,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “We’ll keep using everybody, unless somebody really stands out.”

The Griffins totaled 301 yards rushing, averaging over 6 yards per carry.

Quarterback Todd Gragnano completed 5 of 8 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half.

Culver City fell to 2-1.

Costa Mesa 34, Garden Grove 7--Manny Bonnilla scored 2 touchdowns, 1 in a 21-point third quarter, to lead Costa Mesa (2-1) in front of 800 at Garden Grove.

Bonnilla scored on a 87-yard run in the second quarter and a 12-yard run in the third. Joe Schneeweis scored on a 25-yard run and Huy Keiu returned a punt 57 yards for a score in the third quarter, as the Mustangs turned the game into a rout after leading 13-7 at halftime.

Josh Bove scored on a 82-yard run in the second quarter for Garden Grove (0-3).

Rancho Alamitos 21, Norte Vista 15--David Singletary’s five yard touchdown run with 36 seconds remaining lifted Rancho Alamitos to the nonleague victory at Bolsa Grande High School.

Singletary, a senior tailback, rushed for 181 yards in 34 carries, ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for another to give Rancho Alamitos its first victory of the season (1-2). Norte Vista, which last year tied for second in the Sunkist League, is 2-1.

Rancho Alamitos took over with about three minutes left and the score tied, 15-15.

Singletary capped a 10-play, 81-yard drive with his second rushing touchdown.

“He had a great game tonight, “ Rancho Alamitos Coach Mark Miller said. “He’s a tough kid who should had more yards rushing than he ended up with.”

Rancho Alamitos took the lead with 4:43 remaining in the first half when Singletary took a halfback-option pitch and threw a 14-yard pass to quarterback Rod McCall. Singletary also scored the two-point conversion with a nifty run for an 8-7 lead.

Singletary scored from 9 yards early in the fourth quarter. Marcos Lopez’ extra point gave the Vaqueros a 15-7 lead.

Norte Vista scored on its next possession when quarterback Mike Harris found Jeff Shinar down the sideline for a 19-yard pass. Shinar scored the two-point conversion on a pass from Harris to tie the score, 15-15, with 7:40 remaining. After Rancho Alamitos took the lead, Harris tried to rally Norte Vista with just seconds remaining, but his third-down pass was intercepted by safety Daryl Parker.

McCall was 5 of 8 for 90 yards passing for Rancho Alamitos and fullback Dana Riddle had 64 yards in 9 carries. Shinar rushed for 65 yards in 21 carries for Norte Vista and Harris was 9 of 18 for 155 yards with a touchdown and an interception.