EMPIRE LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Esperanza Stops Los Alamitos

Esperanza High School rushed for 311 yards and ended Los Alamitos’ five-year domination in the Empire League Thursday night with an impressive 27-3 victory in front of 2,100 fans in Bradford Stadium.

The loss was the first for Los Alamitos since opening the 1986 season with a 25-8 loss to Loara. Los Alamitos (3-3 overall, 0-1 in league) had won 20 consecutive league games and four league titles since the loss, but it now appears Esperanza has the inside track to this season’s title.

Running backs Marcus Tayui and Garrick Emry helped Esperanza total 17 first downs in the one-sided game. Emry had 129 yards rushing in 19 carries and Tayui added 119 yards in 17 carries.

Esperanza (6-0, 1-0) was equally impressive on defense. Its secondary contained Los Alamitos’ potent passing game and its defensive front limited the Griffins to minus-11 yards rushing.

LaQuan Beckton, who had averaged 103.7 yards per game rushing in his past three games, was held to two yards in four carries. Split end Tyler Cashman, the county’s leading receiver, had six catches for 48 yards, with 22 yards coming on a play in the final 30 seconds.

Afterward, Gary Meek, Esperanza coach, said he was surprised how effectively his team ran against Los Alamitos and praised his secondary.

“You’ve got to give (assistant) Bill Pendleton a lot of credit,” Meek said. “He did a great job preparing our secondary this week. I thought we shut down Cashman pretty good.

“We don’t have a top Division I player on this team, but there’s a certain chemistry on this team that I really like.”

Esperanza scored three touchdowns in the last quarter after struggling to a 6-3 lead. Los Alamitos managed to get only four first downs through three quarters but trailed by only a field goal going into the final quarter.

Mark Parlin, Esperanza’s designated touchdown scorer, had only 12 yards rushing but scored twice, and quarterback Keith McDonald threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Brad Aubuchon to push Esperanza ahead, 27-3, with 1:09 remaining.

Seldom has a Los Alamitos offense been contained so effectively, and Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes couldn’t remember the last time his team failed to generate any offense.

“Even when we got beat by El Toro in the (Division III) title game, we moved the ball well,” Barnes said. “Esperanza took our passing game away, forced us to run and we weren’t up to the task.

“Hey, they played great. But if we only lose once ever 21 games, I’ll be happy.”

Quarterback John Collins completed 14 of 27 passes for 147 yards but also had two passes intercepted and was sacked four times. Cornerback Jason Long and free safety Derek Reaves had interceptions on a night Esperanza got defensive in ending Los Alamitos’ streak.