SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION III : Los Alamitos Has Edge in Defensive Battle With Foothill, 6-3

The most positive thing to say about Los Alamitos High School’s 6-3 victory over Foothill in the opening round of the Southern Section Division III playoffs Friday was that, well, Los Alamitos won.

Dull, defensive-oriented, and hard-hitting also would describe the victory--Los Alamitos’ 10th in a row--played in front of 2,500 at Gahr High in Cerritos.

“The only important thing is getting to the next round,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “We were tough enough when we had to be.”

Los Alamitos (10-0-1) got the most out of a 1-yard touchdown run by Eric Caesar on the game’s opening drive, then turned to its defense to preserve the victory.

Except for a second-quarter drive that yielded a 26-yard field goal by Courtney Keyler, the Griffins kept Foothill under wraps.

And it didn’t hurt Los Alamitos’ chances when Foothill (5-6) fumbled away an opportunity late in the game. Foothill had a first down at the Los Alamitos’ 26-yard line with 3:09 left, but running back Scott Haiduc plunged into the line and lost the ball.

Sean Cronin, a Los Alamitos defensive lineman, pounced on it and the Griffins ran out the remaining time.

Los Alamitos advances to the quarterfinal round against Schurr next week.

The Knights are left to wonder what might have happened if they had been more consistent offensively.

They moved the ball easily at times, as on the late drive, but went nowhere at other times.

“We’ve had a problem with being consistent,” Foothill Coach Jerry Howell said. “We thought we could give them a good game defensively.”

Los Alamitos had its problems moving the ball, though quarterback Todd Gragnano’s statistics looked great. Gragnano, a junior, completed 13 of 25 passes for 208 yards and 2 interceptions.

His first interception ended a scoring chance late in the first half.

Taking over at their 41, the Griffins drove to the Foothill 7 with 29 seconds left. After consecutive incomplete passes, Ward VanPelt picked off Gragnano’s third-down pass at the 4.

Los Alamitos did not have another good scoring chance.

“You know, they were doing so many good things to stop us,” Barnes said.

VanPelt, a linebacker, and Todd Delnoce, a defensive back, were 2 of the Knights’ best defensive players Friday night. They helped hold the Griffins to 51 yards rushing.