Los Alamitos Beats Warren by Numbers : DIVISION II

The numbers lied. They say top-seeded Los Alamitos defeated Downey Warren, 31-13, in the first round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs at Gahr High. They say Los Alamitos running back Enrico Bozman ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns.

All that really happened, and Los Alamitos (11-0) extended its unbeaten streak to 32 games, advancing to play Edison in the second round next week. Warren ended its season 6-5.

But when you get past the lopsided-sounding statistics, you see a different game, one Warren almost won.

For starters, there was an illegal motion penalty that wiped out a go-ahead touchdown for Warren with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Warren quarterback Jeff Stephens had connected with a wide-open Moy DeLeon on a six-yard scoring pass.

Next came Los Alamitos’ crucial defensive stop, keeping Warren out of the end zone on the three plays that followed from the Griffin 11-yard line.

Then, there was a gutsy audible call by Los Alamitos quarterback Mike Good, who made himself look smart by throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Mike McCullough with 3:54 left.

“They called a seam pattern,” Good said. “I made an audible (to a post pattern) because they were in a two-deep zone.”

Touchdown. And a 24-13 Los Alamitos lead.

In the first half, there was total domination by Warren’s offensive line. Los Alamitos simply couldn’t stop Warren’s sweeps and quarterback keepers.

DeLeon’s 53-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Jarvis Watson’s eight-yard scoring run in the second quarter gave Warren a 13-0 lead.

As an added subplot there were Bozman’s achy shin splints. If they bothered him it was tough to notice, though.

He tossed aside his ice packs as the second quarter began and put Los Alamitos into the lead, 14-13, scoring on runs of one and 11 yards.

“He single-handedly brought us back into the game,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “It’s the single-best rushing effort in the 15 years I’ve been at the school.”