Prep Football : Garden Grove League : Rancho Alamitos Fails to Hold Off La Quinta

La Quinta High School scored 2 touchdowns with less than 4 minutes remaining for a 20-14 victory over Rancho Alamitos Friday night in a Garden Grove League opener for both teams at Bolsa Grande High School.

Trailing, 14-7, midway through the fourth quarter, the Aztecs drove 80 yards, scoring on a fourth-down, 1-yard run by Tom Cherms.

But La Quinta quarterback Trent Julian failed in his attempt for the 2-point conversion, leaving La Quinta with a 14-13 deficit with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Although La Quinta (3-1) failed to recover its onside kick a moment later, the Aztecs found fortune on the next play.

Rancho Alamitos tailback David Singletary--who had until then carried the Vaqueros, rushing for 145 yards in 37 carries in the game--fumbled on the Vaquero 44 and Aztec end Julian Canales recovered.

That set up a 7-play drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Julian to Davey Shimabukuro with 1:11 remaining.

“I’m so proud of these kids, they were incredible,” La Quinta Coach Roger Takahashi said.

“We’ve been in tough situations all year and they’ve come through. That’s the bottom line.”

Although La Quinta scored on its first possession of the game, on a 11-yard run by Cherms with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter, the Aztecs lost momentum for the remainder of the half.

Rancho Alamitos (1-3) capitalized, scoring 2 touchdowns in the second quarter.

Singletary scored on a 6-yard run with 9:01 remaining in the half, and again on a 3-yard run just 3 minutes later to give Rancho Alamitos a 14-7 halftime lead.

Though La Quinta didn’t look much improved in the early moments of the second half--Julian fumbled on the Aztecs’ first play, losing the ball to the Vaqueros on La Quinta’s 31-yard line--La Quinta snapped back with an interception by linebacker Yauto Dang.

That seemed to spark the Aztecs, especially Cherms and Julian, who together totaled 152 yards of total offense in the second half.

Julian completing 10 of 16 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Cherms led the Aztec ground attack with 123 yards in 22 carries and 2 touchdowns. Cherms also was La Quinta’s top receiver, catching 5 passes for 50 yards.

Rod McCall completed 5 of 11 passes for 74 yards and threw 1 interception for Rancho Alamitos.