Stein Keys Los Alamitos’ Victory Over Marina

Good football teams beat teams they are expected to beat.

Fifth-ranked Los Alamitos followed that rule Thursday. Instead of looking ahead to next week’s showdown against Edison, the Griffins rolled to a 31-0 victory over Marina in a Sunset League game in front of 1,000 spectators at Veterans Stadium.

Sean Stein passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Roy Roberts rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown for Los Alamitos (7-1, 2-1 in league). The defense collected eight turnovers--three fumbles and five interceptions.

Two of the interceptions were by Ife Ohalete, raising his county-leading total to nine. The other three were by Dave Bacani, who thwarted Marina’s best scoring chance with an interception in the end zone.

Marina (1-7, 0-3) had only 177 yards of total offense.

“Basically, we won and I’m happy,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “It wasn’t our best-played game or our most emotional game, but we did what we had to do.

“Next week, the season comes down to the Edison game. If we win, it’s been a pretty good year. If not, it’ll be a scramble.”

Both teams came into Thursday’s game hobbling. Los Alamitos was without primary receiver Ryan Dunbar--”our security blanket,” offensive coordinator Barry Suhr said--who sprained his ankle during Monday’s practice. Ohalete, nursing a sore thigh, was supposed to play only defense, though he caught one pass good for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Marina receiver Arthur Odden had suffered from tonsillitis this week and had not practiced, though Coach Mark Rehling got him in a few plays. And starting left tackle Kevin Romberg was sidelined by the flu.

Rehling was not kidding himself into thinking the playing field was level, however.

“What makes them tough to defend,” he said. “is their passing attack is so smooth that if you can’t defend it, they just pick you apart. And if you over-commit to the pass, they can run.

“We had to try and make them drive the ball down the field, not just give up big plays.”

The Vikings did make Los Alamitos work for their first score. The Griffins took the opening kickoff at their 31, and 11 plays later Stein found Jim Vu for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

What Rehling feared most materialized later in the first quarter. On a third and 17 from the Griffins’ 26, Stein lofted the ball to Ohalete, who caught it at the 40 and outraced the Marina defense to the end zone.

Los Alamitos’ final first-half touchdown came on a six-yard run by Roberts at the 10:57 mark in the second quarter.