Rancho Alamitos Beats Kennedy in Final 16 Seconds

Carl Foss kicked a 23-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining to give Rancho Alamitos a 26-23 victory over Kennedy in a Garden Grove League game Thursday night.

Rancho Alamitos (5-0-1, 3-0 in league) drove from its 20-yard line to Kennedy’s 10 in the final four minutes of play to set up Clark’s winning kick.

Tailback Jeff Byrd gained all but 15 yards in the winning drive and finished with 296 yards in 34 carries. Teammate Leon Vickers added 43 yards in 10 carries as Rancho Alamitos amassed 370 yards on the ground.

Kennedy (1-5, 0-3) suffered another tough loss against another league power. The Fighting Irish opened league play with Garden Grove, Pacifica and Rancho Alamitos and Coach Mitch Olson called the schedule “Murderer’s Row.”

But Kennedy managed to keep pace with Rancho Alamitos by passing effectively. Quarterback John Guthrie completed 13 of 20 passes for 160 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Morgan Murakami that tied the score, 23-23, with 4:02 remaining.

But the Rancho Alamitos linemen merely flexed their muscles and Byrd ran at will in the final drive.

“They’re comparable to last year,” Olson said. “They have four or five great athletes and the others are tough kids. (Quarterback Marshall) Brown is the fastest player in the league, Byrd came out of nowhere, Vickers is a great athlete and (lineman Lia) Togia is a man among boys.

“Physically, they don’t look or play like most high school kids. It was just unfortunate that we had to open up with those three teams, but I think we’ll finish up fine.”

Kennedy held its own in the first half despite Rancho Alamitos’ 197 yards rushing. Fumbles killed two scoring opportunities for the Vaqueros. Kennedy defensive end Chris Roberts ended one threat at his own 44-yard line when he recovered a poor handoff by Brown.

Defensive tackle Jason Campanella recovered another fumble at Kennedy’s 15-yard line in the second quarter to stop another drive. Still, Rancho Alamitos led, 16-9, at halftime as Kennedy’s only touchdown came on a 92-yard kickoff return by Arraceion Mobley.