Rancho Alamitos’ Byrd Scores Four Touchdowns in Victory

Rancho Alamitos running back Jeff Byrd ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Vaqueros to a 41-14 Garden Grove league victory over Los Amigos Friday night at Garden Grove High.

The victory sets up a matchup of unbeaten teams next Friday at Garden Grove as the the Vaqueros (8-0-1, 5-0) take on Garden Grove High in a game that will determine the league championship.

“It’s gonna be a battle,” Byrd said. “But with the strong offensive line we have, we can do the job.”

Rancho Alamitos’ Byrd and Leon Vickers ran over Los Amigos defense. Vickers ran for 84 yards in 11 carries.

“There’s no one person for the defense to key on,” Byrd said. “If they key on me, Leon can break. If they key on Leon, I can break. If they key on both of us, (quarterback Marshall) Brown can break.”

And Brown did break against Los Amigos--for a 38-yard touchdown run on the Vaqueros’ first play from scrimmage. The play was set up by a fumble by Los Amigos running back Junior Leofa.

Rancho Alamitos took a 21-0 halftime lead on two touchdowns by Byrd, the first from three yards, the second from 18 off a pitch from Brown.

Los Amigos got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when defensive lineman Nick Perez recovered Brown’s fumble and ran 20 yards for a touchdown.

Byrd scored touchdowns from one and 28 yards out in the third quarter to give Rancho Alamitos a 34-7 lead.