PREP FOOTBALL : Empire League : Los Alamitos Rings Up 4th Shutout at Esperanza’s Expense

Los Alamitos High School’s defense came into Friday’s game against Esperanza having allowed only 17 points in 5 games. Esperanza came into the game managing about 10 points a game and playing, what Esperanza Coach Gary Meek had been calling, “ugly football.”

It got uglier.

Los Alamitos defeated Esperanza, 21-0, in Bradford Stadium. Los Alamitos held Esperanza to a total of 103 yards rushing and harassed its sophomore quarterback, Keith McDonald. McDonald, under constant pressure, completed 8 of 27 passes for 80 yards and threw 3 interceptions.

Esperanza did get as deep as the Los Alamitos 30 in the fourth quarter, but McDonald, being pressured by Giovanni Catalano, threw and was intercepted by Brian Havens.

That was the kind of night it was for Esperanza.

“The kids really got after it tonight,” said John Barnes, Los Alamitos coach. “They’ve really come a long way since the beginning of the season.”

Barnes referred to a 28-28 season-opening tie against Kennedy. That game seemed to signal the end of a dominating tradition Los Alamitos had upheld all of last season. Los Alamitos, an eventual Southern Conference finalist, shut out 7 of 10 regular-season opponents, allowing just 27 points.

But Friday was Los Alamitos’ fourth shutout, and it has allowed just 17 points in its last 6 games. Barnes balked when he was asked to compare the two defenses, only saying, “I like this bunch of kids just fine.”

As the defense was snuffing Esperanza, the balanced Los Alamitos offense was capitalizing on turnovers, or making big plays of its own.

After safety Bob Farrell recovered an Esperanza fumble on the Esperanza 45, junior quarterback Todd Gragnano drove Los Alamitos to a touchdown in three plays. The key play was a Gragnano audible that resulted in a 44-yard completion to Ron Monninger at the 1. Running back Eric Caesar scored on the next play, and the conversion kick put Los Alamitos ahead, 7-0, with 4:58 left in the first quarter.

“Todd found a way to make some big things happen,” Barnes said.

Gragnano did it again when he engineered a 58-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. The two key plays were both passes, the first a 37-yard completion to Monninger, the second a 9-yard scoring pass to running back Chris Stewart.

Gragnano completed just 6 of 17 passes for 114 yards, but his completions always seemed to come at the right time.

“I’m really surprised we scored 21 points against Esperanza,” Barnes said. “They have a great defense also. I think Todd and the boys really did a great job.”

Stewart would score again in the fourth quarter, going 43 yards in which he broke four tackles. Stewart broke several long runs, and ended as the game’s leading rusher with 121 yards on 18 carries.

Esperanza’s junior running back, Lance Brown, carried a majority of the Esperanza load, rushing for 69 yards on 19 carries.