PREP FOOTBALL : Empire League : Gragnano Scores Three Times to Lead Los Alamitos

It was supposed to be a showdown for the Empire League title. It was supposed to be the toughest game Los Alamitos High School would play to date.

It didn’t work out that way, though.

Los Alamitos continued its stranglehold on the rest of the league with a 27-7 victory over Katella Friday night in front of 4,000 at Veterans Stadium.

The Griffins (7-0-1 overall, 3-0 in league play) have won 13 consecutive league games, the longest streak of any Orange County school.

Katella (5-2-1, 2-1) came into the game as the only team with a shot at unseeding Los Alamitos as the league champion.

Three touchdown runs by quarterback Todd Gragnano and a pair of field goals by Chris Park proved to be more than enough points for the Griffins.

Gragnano, a junior, completed 9 of 21 passes for 156 yards. He also ran for 102 yards in 8 carries.

The Los Alamitos defense gave little ground, particularly in the second half when Katella managed only 4 first downs and no points.

Katella running back Joe Pastorello, who came into the game as the fourth-leading rusher in the county, got 51 yards in 14 carries. But until the Knights’ final drive, Pastorello had gained only 17 yards in 8 carries.

The rest of the Katella offense fared just as poorly. Jeremy Sherman, the other back, was held to 25 yards in 7 carries. Quarterback Dennis Briggs completed 3 of 10 passes for 27 yards.

The Knights’ only touchdown came on a 3-yard run by Pastorello just before the end of the half. But Katella still trailed, 17-7, at halftime.

“We let them off the hook once,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “They were going to do that (score). They’re a good football team.”

Pastorello, who also played linebacker, was a bright spot for the Knights’ defense. If he didn’t make a tackle on a play, he always seemed to be nearby.

But the story of this game was Los Alamitos’ mastery over Katella. The biggest example was Gragnano’s running.

He scored 2 of his 3 touchdowns on quarterback draws. The Knights were fooled repeatedly by the draw calls and Gragnano found gaping holes to run through.

The first time he tried the draw, it went for a 15-yard gain. The second time produced a 33-yard run for a score with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Griffins extended the lead to 14-0 after Gragnano scored on another draw, this one covering 31 yards.

Park kicked a 26-yard field goal and it was 17-0 with 3:40 left in the half. He added a 30-yard field goal with 3:21 left in the third quarter that gave Los Alamitos a 20-7 lead. Gragnano ran around left end for the final touchdown and a 27-7 lead with 9:03 left in the game.

Two more victories--over Loara next week and Cypress in the regular-season finale--will give Los Alamitos its third consecutive league title. And 15 consecutive league victories.