SUNSET LEAGUE : Griffins Rebound Nicely by Punishing Fountain Valley, 25-7

It’s not often in the last four years that Los Alamitos has entered a football game with questions. But there were several here Thursday, the biggest being how would the Griffins respond after last week’s loss to Esperanza.

Quite well, thank you, as the Griffins returned to their overpowering ways, crushing Fountain Valley, 25-7, in a Sunset League game in front of an estimated 7,000 at Veterans Stadium.

The Griffins improved to 7-1, 2-1, while the Barons--who had their six-game winning streak halted--fell to 6-2, 2-1.

Los Alamitos receiver Stan Guyness toyed with the Barons secondary, catching six passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns, two coming on his favorite play, the flanker screen.

The 24-yard and 71-yard scores staked Los Alamitos to a 13-0 lead and the defense--which prevented Fountain Valley from scoring four times inside the Griffins’ 10-yard line--made sure the lead was never challenged.

“That [flanker screen] is about execution,” said Los Alamitos quarterback Kevin Feterik, who was 13 for 18 for 211 yards and three touchdowns (with two interceptions), and who scored once himself.

“We put two receivers out in the area, do the blocking, and depend on Stan to [fake] one guy. If he does that, he’s gone.”

Guyness, often overlooked because the county’s leading receiver Tony Hartley lines up on the other side, said the blocking is the key. “Without Sean Stein, Ryan Dunbar and Tony, I go nowhere,” he said.

Along with offense and defense, the Griffins also brought attitude to Thursday’s game. Clearly embarrassed by their effort against Esperanza, they appeared determined to make sure there would be no further slip-ups.

“When we turned the corner into the parking lot,” Barnes said, “it was the first time this year we came to a game just to have fun. We really made them get after it in practice this week; I wasn’t sure if we were playing with enough emotion or were tough enough. So we gave them holy heck in practice.”

Among the concerns for the Griffins was trying to slow an offense as prolific than theirs. Fountain Valley had gotten into the 40s three times this season, as was averaging 35 points per game, same as the Griffins. Only El Toro (37.4 points) lights up the scoreboard more often.

But the Barons never got in sync.

Their only highlight came in the first quarter--an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Ryerson to Joe Vasquez.

But Ryerson suffered through his worst game, completing only 11 of 32 for 111 yards with one interception. Five running backs combined for 119 yards rushing, led by Robert Alvarez with 58.