Los Alamitos Pounds Overmatched Western

A year ago this might have been an intriguing matchup. Western was headed to an unbeaten regular season and Los Alamitos--for a while at least--was the nation’s top team.

But while the Griffins have not lost much skill and stature, the Pioneers have. So Thursday night’s game, the first time the teams have met, turned out to be a mismatch.

Los Alamitos rolled up 42 first-half points and went on to crush Western, 56-12, in front of an estimated 2,000 at Veterans Stadium.

The fifth-ranked Griffins (4-0) took advantage of generous field position, returned an interception by Ife Ohalete (one of two interceptions he had in the game) for 41 yards and a touchdown, ran back a kickoff 81 yards and scored in every quarter.

“I honestly thought this and [next week’s opponent] Riverside Poly would be our toughest nonleague games,” said Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes, who recorded his 150th career victory. “I also think we can play tougher. But we have definitely improved over the last four weeks.”

Western’s Sergio Garcia returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Conway in the second.

Los Alamitos’ Sean Stein, who set a school record last week with 441 yards passing, had 158 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Stein, who also scored twice, completed 14 of 23 passes for 175 yards.

Roy Roberts also had a big first half for the Griffins, scoring three times. He finished with 92 yards rushing.

Western’s first-year Coach Toby Howell, who replaced his father, Jim, continues look for signs the Pioneers (1-3) will be able to defend their Orange League championship.

“We had a couple raw calls from the officials but that’s not why we lost,” Howell said. “We had real trouble defending against the pass. Then again we don’t often see a pass attack that is this good.

The Griffins scored on their first possession. Stein completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Roberts.