Blanco’s Five Scores Help Vaqueros Roll

It was apparent early in the game Thursday night that Rancho Alamitos was going to blow out Saddleback. So the guessing game turned to just how many points the Vaqueros were going to score.

They did fall short of a school record, but the 61-14 drubbing of the Roadrunners in front of about 800 at Bolsa Grande High should be considered nothing less than impressive.

Junior running back Alex Blanco scored five times. The Vaqueros averaged more than 11 yards each time they touched the ball and finished with 469 total yards. Saddleback was held to 128 total yards, most of that in mop-up time.

Blanco carried 12 times for 180 yards, rushed for scores four times and returned a kickoff 87 yards for another. Junior running back David Vickers scored once and had 116 yards, and senior running back Leo Kosi scored once and had 69 yards.

Rancho Alamitos had two touchdowns called back because of penalties or it would have eclipsed the 74 points it scored against Magnolia a decade ago. “We got into it early on and things just started rolling for us,” Coach Doug Case said.

Being 2-0 is more or less uncharted territory for Case and company. Last year the Vaqueros opened with three straight losses. But in the first two weeks of this season, they’ve scored 95 points.

Kosi set the tone on the Vaqueros’ first possession, capping an 80-yard, seven-play drive with a six-yard touchdown run.

Linebacker Nu Atuatasi returned an interception 34 yards for another first-quarter score.

Saddleback cut the deficit to 13-6 midway through the second quarter, when linebacker Joseph Tagaloa caught a line-drive field-goal attempt by kicker Frank Ortiz and returned it 74 yards.

But Vickers returned the kickoff 67 yards for a touchdown and Ortiz added another score by recovering a Saddleback fumble in the end zone.