Vickers Carries Rancho Alamitos

Halfbacks Alex Blanco and David Vickers have split the ballcarrying duties this season for Rancho Alamitos, and both have gained more than 1,000 yards. But with Blanco out for the year with a knee injury, Vickers had to carry the full load Friday night against Los Amigos.

Vickers was more than equal to the task. He not only carried the load, he carried half of Los Amigos’ defense with him as he rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns to lead fourth-ranked Rancho Alamitos to a 35-10 victory and the Garden Grove League title. Rancho Alamitos (9-0, 4-0) has won four of the last six league titles.

Afterward, Los Amigos Coach Roger Takahashi looked about as bewildered as his defense had most of the second half. Vickers gained 154 in the second half and he scored all four of his touchdowns as Rancho rallied from a 10-6 halftime deficit.

“He’s a man going against boys,” Takahashi said. “He cuts on a dime and he’s deceptively fast.”

Vickers was the beneficiary of Coach Doug Case’s simplified second half offense. In the first half, Rancho tried to get cute by passing nine times. Quarterback George Gonzalez completed just one of them and two passes were intercepted. He was also sacked three times as Los Amigos’ outside blitzers often came through untouched.

At halftime, Case decided to go back to basics--the power running game.

“We went to our isolation play to the strong side,” Case said. “We wanted get to a four-on-four matchup again. They didn’t have an extra guy anymore and David just ran loose in the second half. I drew it up, but the kids executed it.”

Vickers, who lost a fumble in the first half and gained only 47 yards in 10 carries, said he was never worried about losing.

“I knew we’d come back,” he said. “For some reason I have a hard time getting up for the first two quarters. I go in at halftime and think about what I’ve been doing wrong.”

Vickers was also a factor on defense. His sack of quarterback Javier Acevez forced Los Amigos to punt on its opening second half drive. Rancho Alamitos needed only three plays to regain the lead as Vickers scored on a 30-yard run that he set up with a nifty cutback. Vickers scored his second touchdown of the quarter three minutes later on a five-yard run, but it was his conversion run from the seven-yard line that had Case shaking his head.

“He was stopped three or four yards out, but he dragged people the rest of the way,” Case said.

While Los Amigos (6-1-1, 3-1) tried to catch its breath, Vickers kept running wild behind fullbacks Anthony Huizar and Ralph Sakaria. He scored from one yard on the first play of the fourth quarter and ran in the two-point conversion. He punctuated his big night by tiptoeing into the end zone after an 18-yard run.

“I was hoping they’d wear down,” Takahashi said. “They had more guys going both ways. But we were the ones who wore down.”

Los Amigos only managed two first downs in the second half and the Lobos never crossed into Vaquero territory.