Allen Finds the Handle, Leads Rancho Alamitos

Rancho Alamitos’ Kevin Allen fumbled away his first kickoff return of the season. Then he fumbled away his first punt return of the season.

But Allen did everything else right Thursday night, rushing for 137 yards and two touchdowns to lead Rancho Alamitos to a 27-17 nonleague victory over Troy at Bolsa Grande High School.

In doing so, Allen, a 5-foot-8, 155-pound junior, not only made a successful debut as the Vaquero tailback but also made a winner of new Vaquero Coach Doug Case.

Allen has the tough task of replacing graduated tailback Jeff Byrd, who set Orange County’s single-season rushing record last season with 2,596 yards.

“I guess I kind of helped and hurt my team tonight,” said Allen, who converted from wide receiver to tailback this season. “I was pretty tense before the game. But my teammates and coaches kept telling me, ‘You’re not Jeff Byrd, just go out there and play your game.’ ”

Allen had the luxury of running behind a huge offensive line that included Jeremiah Ross (6-5, 280 pounds), Nestor Alvarez (6-0, 320), Jose Bolanos (6-0, 220), Justin Volkmann (6-1, 250) and Adam Maldonado (5-11, 230). The Vaqueros rolled up 266 yards total offense, including 207 rushing.

Rancho Alamitos’ defensive line, which outweighed Troy by as much as 50 pounds a player, held the Warriors to 217 yards of total offense, most of it late in the game after the outcome had been decided.

“Our kids hung tough and played hard,” Case said. “We only suited up 26 players, and we had a lot of guys playing two ways.

“But if your line can handle people up front, you’ll win nine out of 10 times.”

Allen’s early mistakes and Troy’s special teams gave the Warriors a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes 30 seconds of the game. Nick Ruzzi returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, Troy’s Eric Urban recovered a fumble by Allen at the Vaquero 27, setting up a 24-yard field goal by Chris Blume.

But then Allen took over.

He returned a kickoff 66 yards to set up his first touchdown run, a seven-yard burst up the middle that cut the deficit to 10-7 with 6:26 left in the first quarter.

His second touchdown, another seven-yard run, gave the Vaqueros the lead for good, 14-10, with 1:04 left in the second quarter.

Two second-half touchdown passes by sophomore John Frank--five yards to Richard Allen and 16 yards to Jeff Turbarg--stretched the lead to 27-10.

Troy threatened early in the fourth quarter when Jason Brown recovered Frank’s fumble at the Troy 43. The Warriors drove to the Vaquero 35, but the drive ended when Brian Logan threw incomplete on fourth down.

Logan, who rushed for 85 yards to lead Troy, hit Ruzzi for an 18-yard touchdown with 2:56 left for the final score.