Los Amigos football earns share of Garden Grove League title for second straight year
Los Amigos’ belief in themselves, at times, bordered on refusal to accept reality, an injury list as long as a freight train plotting to derail the aspirations the Lobos had for themselves.
The internal expectation was to repeat as the Garden Grove League champion, and after dropping their league opener, the Los Amigos football team did what was necessary.
An opportunistic defense led Los Amigos to a 24-8 win over Santiago, giving the Lobos their fourth straight win and a share of the league title on Thursday night at Garden Grove High.
“You got to go through things to get through things,” Los Amigos coach Romel Guess said of how his team has handled the adversity it has faced. “I think that’s exactly what we did. We understood what our team looked like on paper. We understood what the assignment was, that we had to weather the storm until we got guys back.”
Los Amigos (6-4, 4-1) forced turnovers on the first three possessions for Santiago (4-6, 1-4). Rocco Rivera ended a red zone visit for the Cavaliers when he intercepted James Gonzalez in the end zone on the opening drive.
“Oh, man, we needed that play,” Rivera said of his interception. “I was just doing my thing. I saw [Santiago tight end Larry Bravo], I saw he was wide open, so I was like, ‘I’m just going to go cover him,’ and he threw the ball right to me.”
It allowed the Lobos to take the lead, courtesy of a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a short field goal by Miguel Radilla.
The Lobos took the ball away on two of the next three plays run by the Cavaliers. Jacob Aguilar picked off another pass. After Maysen Navarro’s deep pass was intercepted, the Lobos got the ball right back when Alejandro Carrillo’s sack resulted in a fumble recovered by Rivera.
Navarro, a senior quarterback who has returned after a shoulder injury in the opener, threw three touchdown passes, one each to Radilla, Isaac Galindo and Chris Flores. The Lobos’ defense afforded the offense time to find its footing.
“It was a huge game from the defense for us,” Navarro said. “If you’re talking to me, I think it’s the best defense in the league.”
The touchdowns bookended halftime, with the third coming after Jovanny Regalado, playing with a cast over his right wrist, blocked a punt in the third quarter.
Rancho Alamitos (7-3, 4-1), which beat Loara (0-10, 0-5) on Thursday, joined Los Amigos atop the Garden Grove League standings. La Quinta (6-3, 3-1), which was scheduled to play Bolsa Grande (5-4, 2-2) on Friday, had a chance to forge a three-way tie for the league championship with a win.
The CIF Southern Section will release its football playoff pairings at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
“It’s a big thing,” Regalado said of the Lobos repeating as league champions. “We’re making history. It was expected from us, and all that hard work we did during practice, I got to give it to the guys for putting it all in practice and coming and showing it out on the field.”
Garden Grove League
Los Amigos 24, Santiago 8
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Santiago 0 - 0 - 0 - 8 — 8
Los Amigos 0 - 10 - 14 - 0 — 24
FIRST QUARTER
None.
SECOND QUARTER
LA — Radilla 26 FG, 11:55.
LA — Radilla 8 pass from Navarro (Radilla kick), 0:32.
THIRD QUARTER
LA — Galindo 44 pass from Navarro (Radilla kick), 5:43.
LA — Flores 3 pass from Navarro (Radilla kick), 0:43.
FOURTH QUARTER
S — Garcia 11 pass from Gonzalez (Bravo pass from Gonzalez), 7:31.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
S — Carbajal, 2-26.
LA — Navarro, 16-76; Galindo, 12-49.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
S — Gonzalez, 14-26-2, 145, 1 TD.
LA — Navarro, 12-19-1, 149, 3 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
S — Granados, 5-91.
LA — Flores, 6-75, 1 TD; Galindo, 1-44, 1 TD; Radilla, 5-30, 1 TD.
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