Los Al Stuns Esperanza, Stops Streak : Division III: Griffins’ defense out-muscles Aztecs, who had won 27 straight, in 8-0 victory. Carey’s 35-yard scoring pass is difference.

Los Alamitos High School’s football team won the Division III championship Saturday night with the high-tech offense of the ‘90s and the defense of the dark ages.

A little finesse and a lot of brute strength carried the Griffins to an 8-0 victory over Esperanza, ending the Aztecs’ Southern Section-leading winning streak at 27 games in front of 8,500 at Cerritos College.

Tim Carey, a junior quarterback, directed Los Alamitos’ run-and-shoot offense efficiently, if not always spectacularly. His 35-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Don Ruberio with 8 minutes 4 seconds left in the half was the game’s only touchdown. Ruberio then connected with George Sagen on a swinging gate play for a two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead that held up.

The Griffins’ defense took over from there, standing firm against Esperanza’s run-oriented attack.

“I thought we could slow them down,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said.

Defensive coordinator Frank Doretti wasn’t so sure.

“No, no I did not,” he said when asked if in his wildest dreams he thought Los Alamitos would shut out Esperanza.

Going into the game, top-seeded Esperanza (13-1) hadn’t been beaten since it lost to Villa Park, 48-28, in the first round of the 1989 playoffs. The Aztecs’ streak included a 25-7 victory over Santa Fe Springs St. Paul for the division title last season. They also had two victories over Los Alamitos in that span--27-3 last season and 28-7 earlier this season.

“We’ve had a hell of a football team here the past two years,” Esperanza Coach Gary Meek said. “You don’t win 27 straight games without good players.”

Unseeded Los Alamitos (12-2) was playing in its third division title game in the past five seasons. In the other games, the Griffins had fallen against hot quarterbacks.

This time around, the opponent’s quarterback did little damage. Aztec quarterback Josh Buscaglio completed only four of 16 passes for 63 yards and one interception. He was one for 10 for 33 yards in the second half.

Carey had little trouble picking apart Esperanza’s secondary in the first half, completing 10 of 21 for 187 yards and the touchdown to Ruberio. He finished with 210 yards, completing 13 of 28 with three interceptions.

“The line was giving me all the time in the world and the receivers were open,” Carey said.

On the touchdown play, Los Alamitos faced fourth and one at the Esperanza 35-yard line. The Griffins bunched up at the line of scrimmage, looking as if they would run up the middle.

Instead, Carey faked a handoff, dropped to pass and threw to Ruberio, who had beaten cornerback Kevin Shoup down the center of the field.

Esperanza never came close to scoring a touchdown, and its best chance ended when Clay King’s 42-yard field-goal attempt struck the left upright and bounced away with 1:19 left in the half.

“The defense pumped it up one more level tonight and shot them down from the beginning,” Los Alamitos linebacker Alex Lin said.