Rancho Alamitos Rolling Along

Things didn’t get off to a good start Thursday night for a confused Western football team and they just got worse.

Quarterback Jimmy Conway was nowhere to be found when the Pioneers took the field for their first snap of a 41-0 loss to visiting Rancho Alamitos and Western had to use a time out. Conway was on the bench having a cut above his eye attended to, but apparently Coach Toby Howell wasn’t informed.

The Pioneers gained only 22 net yards and turned the ball over twice in the first half and trailed, 21-0.

And there was no dealing with Rancho Alamitos’ lines on both side of the ball. The offensive line opened enough holes for running back Leo Kosi to rush for 269 yards and four touchdowns. The defense, led by tackle Ralph Sakoria and safety Sean Young, recovered six Western turnovers. Young had two interceptions and the Vaqueros have their first 3-0 start under Coach Doug Case.

Last year Rancho Alamitos opened 0-3. But this season, looking ahead to next Thursday’s Garden Grove League opener against Santiago, the Vaqueros have outscored opponents, 136-21.

The only dark spot in Thursday’s performance was the loss of junior running back Alex Blanco.

Blanco, who was tied for the county lead in scoring with 36 points on six touchdowns, strained his left knee in the first quarter after going up the middle for 18 yards. He finished with 25 yards in four carries.

Rancho Alamitos didn’t skip a beat without Blanco. Kosi bowled over a couple of tacklers on a 16-yard touchdown run with six minutes left in the first quarter and David Vickers made it 14-0 when he intercepted Conway’s flat pass intended for Ben Galvan and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown as the second quarter began.

Western running back Sergio Garcia fumbled a Rancho Alamitos punt at his 14 and Kosi carried all four plays of the scoring drive, which ended just before halftime.

Kosi picked up his third score on Rancho’s first possession of the second half. He broke through a host of arm tackles from his 10 and raced 90 yards, then added a 31-yard scamper for a score at the start of the fourth quarter.

Western’s deepest penetration was to the Rancho Alamitos 27 with 6:52 remaining in the game. The Pioneers managed only 71 net yards rushing. The Vaqueros had 400 total yards.