Loara Turns Up the Defense in Second Half for Victory

Loara High School’s defense watched Los Alamitos quarterback John Collins play catch with wide receiver Tyler Cashman in the first half Thursday night.

Then the Saxons decided to do something about it.

Collins burned Loara for 201 yards passing in the first half, but the Saxons came back with three interceptions in the second half for a 17-14 victory in an Empire League game at Glover Stadium.

Interceptions by Bryan Blanks and Jason Ortiz in the second half set up a field goal and winning touchdown for Loara.

An interception at the Loara 49-yard line by Charles Gipson with 51 seconds left sealed the win for the Saxons (5-4, 3-1 in league). Los Alamitos dropped to 5-4 and 2-2.

Collins completed 17 of 33 passes for 228 yards, but Loara’s heavy pass rush had him hurrying his throws in the second half. He was sacked three times for minus-17 yards.

“Our game plan was to put the pressure on Collins,” Loara Coach John deFries said. “There were times we were sporadic on defense but we got to him at the critical times.”

Cashman, the leading receiver in Orange County, had 13 catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns.

Loara defensive back Shawn Easter was in man-to-man coverage on Cashman for most of the second half.

Los Alamitos’ passing game worked well early. The Griffins took a 7-0 lead with 11 minutes 11 seconds left in the second quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Collins to Cashman.

Loara tied it, 7-7, six minutes later on a one-yard touchdown run by David Kang.

Los Alamitos scored on the next possession when Collins found Cashman over the middle for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Griffins led, 14-7, at halftime.

Ortiz picked off Collins’ first pass of the second half, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Chris Valentin. It was Valentin’s first field goal of the year and cut Loara’s deficit to 14-10.

Blanks intercepted a Collins pass at the Loara 48 with 6:15 left in the third quarter. He returned the ball to the Los Alamitos 44.

That set up Loara’s winning touchdown, a 27-yard pass from Gipson to Easter, on the first play of the fourth quarter.