Collins, Cashman Are All Los Alamitos Needs

John Collins’ three touchdown passes to Tyler Cashman gave Los Alamitos a 28-7 victory over Cypress in the battle for second place in the Empire League Friday at Veterans Stadium.

Cashman, who caught four passes for 82 yards, scored on passes of eight, 30 and 12 yards. Collins completed six of nine passes for 124 yards.

Los Alamitos (5-3, 2-1) began three of its four scoring drives after recovering fumbles. The Griffins’ second scoring drive began in the final 1:09 of the second quarter, when Matt Hauk recovered a Cypress fumble at the Cypress 25-yard line.

Hauk ran the ball into the end zone, but a clipping penalty nullified the touchdown and returned the ball to the 30-yard line. Two plays later, Collins completed a 30-yard scoring pass to Cashman for a 14-0 lead with 46 seconds left in the second quarter.

Andrew Fuentes, who gained 56 of Los Alamitos’ 163 yards rushing, scored on a one-yard run at the end of the third quarter. Bob Simpson had 95 yards rushing in 18 carries for Los Alamitos.

Cypress (3-5, 1-2) was shut out until Gabe Garcia completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sean Dangaran with 9:32 left. Garcia completed 12 of 30 passes for 152 yards. Bryan Dawson gained 144 of the Centurions’ 162 rushing yards.