Mitchell Races Los Alamitos Past Servite : Tailback Gains 245 Yards, Scores Three Touchdowns in 45-28 Victory

Los Alamitos High School needed all of its potent offense and then some Thursday night to hold off upstart Servite in a 45-28 victory in front of 5,800 at Gahr High School’s Hanford Rants Stadium.

Los Alamitos, the top-ranked team in Orange County, received impressive performances from quarterback Todd Gragnano and tailback Erik Mitchell, but its defensive secondary left a lot to be desired.

Gragnano passed for 155 yards and rushed 88 yards and two touchdowns, including a one-yard run with 5:56 remaining to play. Gragnano completed 15 of 27 passes.

Mitchell, a much-publicized track star who transferred from Mayfair last spring, ran as if he were in a track meet. He gained 245 yards in 20 carries and had three touchdowns, including runs of 54 and 55 yards.

But the key statistic was the passing yards that Los Alamitos’ secondary allowed against a quarterback starting only his second varsity game.

Servite quarterback Rob Walker completed 28 of 43 passes for 371 yards, setting a school record for yardage and tying another mark for pass attempts. Walker eclipsed Tim Rosenkranz’s mark of 357 yards set in 1985 and tied Turk Schonert’s mark of 43 attempts set in 1973.

Walker repeatedly burned Los Alamitos with short passes to his running backs or tight spirals to receivers over the middle against a defense that has now allowed 50 points in two games.

“I told everyone before the season that our defense has a long way to go, but on the plus side, I thought our quarterback made every big play and Erik Mitchell was sensational,” said John Barnes, Los Alamitos coach.

Mitchell, the heir apparent to Servite’s Derek Brown as the county’s big-name player of 1989, had the partisan crowd chanting his name after he outraced Servite’s secondary for his second long touchdown run of the game, a 54-yard run with 10:12 remaining to play.

“I don’t think anyone can catch me from behind,” Mitchell said. “I’m feeling comfortable here with a new offense. Last week, I bruised my shin and didn’t play as well as I would have liked, but tonight was great.”

Servite, under first-year Coach Larry Toner, surprised many with a 21-0 victory last week against Long Beach Wilson and looked even sharper against Los Alamitos. Servite’s offense was a model of execution, considering it’s only the second week of the season. The Friars even scored a touchdown on the old Statue of Liberty play.