Los Altos Pulls Away on La Mirada, 41-16

Hacienda Heights Los Altos lost a game last week by forfeit, but it remained unbeatable on the field.

Despite a first half filled with miscues and near-misses, the Conquerors--ranked 11th by The Times and No. 1 in the Southern Section Division VI poll--rallied in the second with a near-perfect half and scored a 41-16 victory over host La Mirada on Friday night.

Daniel Drayton rushed for 59 yards in 14 carries, and three second-half touchdowns of one, two and two yards.

La Mirada, ranked fourth in the division, dropped to 1-2.

In the first half, Los Altos committed four turnovers and La Mirada capitalized on three, turning them into two touchdowns and a field goal for a 16-13 lead.

In the second half, Los Altos’ defense limited the Matadores to 28 yards. Los Altos finished with a 357-167 advantage in total yards.

“I’ve never been more proud of a team,” said Los Altos Coach Greg Gano, whose team is 2-1 overall after forfeiting its season-opening 42-21 victory over Menifee Paloma Valley because of an administrative error. “There were no excuses for the first half. We told them, ‘Just go out and play like you can.’ ”

Carlos Ordonez completed 11 of 18 passes for 247 yards and an interception, but he threw for three touchdowns, of 11 and 41 yards to Caleb Flores and 82 yards to Jeff Castro. Flores caught seven passes for 131 yards.