Los Amigos football’s upset bid falls short versus Rancho Alamitos
The Los Amigos High School football team holds onto a smidgen of hope that it will be playing next week, when the CIF Southern Section playoffs kick off, but the Lobos are going to need some help after watching two second-half leads disappear Thursday night in a 21-17 loss to Rancho Alamitos at Garden Grove High School.
Los Amigos, which might have been on the wrong side of a blowout if not for some exceptional red-zone defense in the first half, kept the Garden Grove League champions on edge until the final minutes, when a holding penalty interrupted a promising drive and enabled the visiting Vaqueros (9-1, 5-0 in the Garden Grove League) to claim their third outright crown in a four-year title run.
It left the Lobos (4-6, 2-3) in fourth place and needing fifth-place Loara (3-6, 1-3) to beat third-place La Quinta (3-6, 2-2) on Friday, Oct. 29, at Bolsa Grande High School to forge a tie among the three for third place. The league’s third playoff entrant would be decided by a draw, one that has already taken place, with the winner’s name in an envelope that’s in Rancho Alamitos coach Mike Enright’s possession.
“If LQ lose tomorrow, we got a shot,” Los Amigos head coach Romel Guess said. “It’s a small glimpse of hope, but there’s some hope, and we’re going to hold onto that hope until it’s not there anymore, for sure.”
The Lobos’ shot Thursday was mostly Bao Huynh’s doing. The dynamic senior caught a 79-yard “double” pass for a touchdown, and he ran for 116 yards, including a 29-yard gain that set up the go-ahead score in the third quarter. Huynh also intercepted a pass on the Lobos’ 2-yard line on the game’s opening drive, and he made plays in coverage as a cornerback to deny Rancho Alamitos’ receivers three touchdown receptions.
“That kid, man, you talk about the ideal football player ...,” Guess said. “We’ve been putting the team on his back ever since Isaac Cuevas got hurt [four weeks ago], and he’s done nothing but just carry us, and it was no different tonight. He was the same old Bao, man.”
The Vaqueros took just seven points from drives into the red zone in their first five possessions — Huynh’s interception, a partially blocked field goal, a fumble at the Los Amigos 4 collected by Mauricio Rios, then an incomplete pass on fourth down just before the break. Nevertheless, Rancho Alamitos was in charge, 9-0, after an odd safety and a 9-yard Angel Rios touchdown run with 4:39 to go in the half.
Los Amigos, which went three-and-out the first three times it had the ball, struck just 78 seconds later. Maysen Navarro threw a lateral to Erubey Bermudez on the right sideline, and the freshman receiver hit Huynh in stride to trim the deficit to two points.
The Lobos took the lead on their second third-quarter drive on Joseph Hernandez’s 1-yard rush following Huynh’s longest rushing gain.
Rancho Alamitos answered with a quick, 68-yard march, going ahead 15-14 when Isaac Plata found Matthew Sanchez open at the 17 at the end of the quarter for a 29-yard score.
Los Amigos was back in front after Nathan Villicana’s 24-yard field goal with 5:04 to play, but a pass-interference penalty on a third-and-12 play gave the Vaqueros the ball at their 40, and Plata connected with Anthony Leal on a screen pass for a 35-yard touchdown with 3:02 left.
The Lobos got the ball at their 38 and advanced to the Rancho Alamitos 41 in four plays. Hernandez then went for 7 yards and a first down, but a holding call pushed them back to the 50. Los Amigos tried the Bermudez pass again on fourth down, but he was quickly pressured, tried to run, and taken down at the line of scrimmage.
Guess thought the officials were wrong on the holding penalty.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “To be in position to have an opportunity and for someone that’s not in a Lobo uniform that you feel like had an effect on that, definitely hurts. We’ll watch the film tomorrow, but everything we saw on the iPad, man, looked like a great block. And I just pray that [the official] was right, because that’s gonna hurt even more if we feel like that had anything to do [with our season ending].”
GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE
Rancho Alamitos 21, Los Amigos 17
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Rancho Alamitos 2 - 7 - 6 - 6 — 21
Los Amigos 0 - 7 - 7 - 3 — 17
FIRST QUARTER
RA — Safety (Villacana recovers blocked punt in end zone), 6:34
SECOND QUARTER
RA — Diaz 9 run (Diaz kick), 4:39
LA — Huynh 79 pass from Bermudez (Villacana kick), 3:21
THIRD QUARTER
LA — Hernandez 1 run (Villacana kick), 2:56
RA — Sanchez 29 pass from Plata (run failed), 0:04
FOURTH QUARTER
LA — Villacana 24 FG, 5:04
RA — Leal 35 pass from Plata (pass failed), 3:02
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
RA — Leal, 23-96; Diaz, 9-73, 1 TD.
LA — Huynh, 20-116.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
RA — Plata, 14-20-1, 176, 2 TDs.
LA — Bermudez, 1-1-0, 79, 1 TD; Navarro, 6-11-0, 61.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
RA — Sanchez, 4-72, 1 TD; Leal, 3-47, 1 TD.
LA — Huynh, 1-79, 1 TD; Ramirez, 3-23.
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