Servite Scores With :03 Left to Top Los Alamitos

When his team fell behind in the final 1 minute 5 seconds, Servite football coach Larry Toner never gave up hope.

When his offense was penalized twice in the final 20 seconds, Toner never gave up hope.

“You can’t be at Servite as long as I have and lose confidence,” Toner said.

The Friars upheld their coach’s faith when running back Mike Wallock scored on a one-yard plunge with three seconds left for a 21-17 victory over Los Alamitos Friday night at Cerritos College.

Servite (1-1) fell behind, 17-14, with 1:05 remaining when a punt by Adam Thomas was blocked by Los Alamitos’ Josh Beeney and recovered in the end zone by teammate Sandy Sternshein.

But the Friars battled back in the final minute. Michael Hill returned the ensuing kickoff 57 yards to the Los Alamitos 33-yard line.

Then Servite quarterback Scott Jones went to work.

He fired a 15-yard completion to Hill for a first down at the Los Alamitos 18. Then two completions were wiped out by interference and holding penalties.

With 12 seconds left, the Friars found themselves at the 38-yard line. Jones found tight end Eric Osterhues open on the left side for a 37-yard completion, setting up Wallock’s last-second dive.

“That was the play we called,” Toner said. “The only thing that went wrong was that he (Osterhues) went out of bounds.”

Servite had taken a 14-10 lead with 6:16 left when Mike Wallock’s three-yard dive capped a six-play, 58-yard drive.

Although the offenses provided plenty of excitement in the final seconds, the first half belonged to the defenses.

Los Alamitos quarterback John Collins, who had played well in a 7-3 win over Marina last week, completed only three of 11 passes for 14 yards in the first half.

The Griffins managed only 49 yards in the first half, 30 coming on a run by Andrew Fuentes on the last play before intermission.

What little scoring the Griffins did, came from their defense.

Tyler Cashman intercepted a pass by Servite’s Scott Jones at the Los Alamitos nine-yard line and returned it 91 yards for a touchdown to give the Griffins a 7-0 lead with 8:40 left in the second quarter.

Servite answered on the ensuing possession, capping an eight-play, 56-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run by Jones with 4:11 left. Jones keyed the drive with a 25-yard completion to Osterhues.

Los Alamitos (1-1, and ranked 10th in the county) kept control of the ball most of the third quarter, using 18 plays to drive 59 yards to the Servite 12. When the drive stalled, kicker Eric Wallace came in to boot a 29-yard field goal that gave the Griffins a 10-7 lead with 5:29 left in the quarter.

The Griffins’ drive was highlighted by Collins’ two completions for 22 yards and a fake punt by Cashman that netted five yards and a first down.