PREP FOOTBALL / GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE : Garden Grove Outlasts La Quinta, 14-7

A touchdown pass on the final play of the first half was enough in Garden Grove’s 14-7 Garden Grove League victory over host La Quinta Saturday night at Bolsa Grande High.

Quarterback Troy Haller’s 59-yard scoring pass to Kevin Griswold was the difference as La Quinta lost its 14th consecutive game. The Aztecs (0-7, 0-3) haven’t won since the third game last season, when they beat Aliso Niguel.

For La Quinta, it was the same old sad story, Coach Fred Valko said.

“I thought we had a chance to win this game,” he said. “We seemed to have the momentum. But we just couldn’t put together a drive. We’ve found every way possible to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Both offenses struggled in the first half before Garden Grove (2-5, 2-2) scored in the second quarter. The Argonauts, who failed in their first three series despite starting in La Quinta territory, got a two-yard touchdown run by Ruben Reyna to cap an 81-yard drive in six plays for a 7-0 lead with 7:48 left in the first half.

La Quinta rallied after recovering a Garden Grove fumble at the Argonaut 15 with 3:36 left in the half. Three plays later, quarterback Mike Daniels dived in from a yard to tie the score, 7-7, with 2:14 remaining.

An interception by Garden Grove junior Jason Bruce at the Argonaut 25 halted a drive by La Quinta with 34 seconds left in the half and helped set up the game-winning score.

Haller hit Griswold two plays later near the La Quinta 30 and the senior wide receiver broke free to score as the half ended.

“Just like we drew it up on the sidelines,” Garden Grove Coach Ralph Stevens said. “We just called three streaks and let it fly. It just happened to work.”