SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Tucker Makes Up for Lost Season : Division II: After missing Los Alamitos’ title game in ‘92, he scores three touchdowns in this one.

Wide receiver Anthony Tucker remembers Los Alamitos High School’s football championship last season. He was a continent away.

There, in Long Island, N.Y., he heard about the Griffins’ terrific season. The Empire League title. The No. 1 ranking in Orange County. The section Division II co-championship with Esperanza.

Yeah, Tucker lived it . . . over the phone.

On Saturday, Tucker got to see a Griffin title up close and personal. It was the Huntington Beach players who wished he was 3,000 miles away. And, at times, that seemed to be as close as the Oilers got to him.

Tucker, a senior, caught five passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns in the Griffins’ 39-21 victory at Cerritos College. He made the big plays to get the offense started, taking two short passes and turning them into long touchdowns. He was a quarterback’s best friend.

“Anthony is our big-play guy,” said quarterback Mike Good, who threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns. “He’s the best athlete we got.”

A year ago, the Griffins didn’t have him, as Tucker was playing for Brentwood High School in Long Island.

Personal problems had forced him and his mother, Cher Abbott, to move from Los Alamitos. Tucker had to go, but he didn’t have to be happy about.

He had been at Los Alamitos since he was a freshman and played on the junior varsity as a sophomore. Tucker was called up to the varsity for the Division III championship and watched on the sidelines as the Griffins upset Esperanza.

“I worked that summer with the team,” Tucker said. “I thought I had a chance to see a lot of playing time. I was really looking forward to the season.”

Tucker got to play, all right. But he mostly ran clearing patterns for a run-run-run offense. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy.

Telephone conversations with Griffin defensive back Ben Jones, his best friend, didn’t make things any better.

“I would talk to him once a week and he would tell me how great they did,” Tucker said. “That made me miss it more. One day, I went to my mother and said, ‘I have to go back.’ ”

Tucker returned in time for the second semester. He moved in with the Jones family.

The Oilers paid for Tucker’s lost season.

The score was tied, 3-3, in the second quarter, when Tucker took a short pass from Good. He ran through the arms of Joshua Holland, then left Kevin Wray waving at air. Tucker went 53 yards to give the Griffins the lead.

On the next possession, Tucker caught a slant pass, then ripped through a seam on the right side. He went 62 yards for another touchdown. Los Alamitos led, 17-3, with 8 minutes 13 seconds left in the second quarter and Huntington Beach had to play catch-up the rest of the night.

“Both those touchdowns were because of the blocking of the other receivers,” Tucker said. “I looked up and saw nothing but open field.”

Tucker also caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The three touchdowns doubled his total for the season.

“I’m so happy,” Tucker said. “I wanted to play football for Los Alamitos and I got to. I wanted to win a title and I got to.”