Los Alamitos Defense Rises to Hand Loara 16-14 Defeat

CERRITOS — There was redemption for Los Alamitos High School kicker Eric Wallace and some recognition for the Griffins’ defense.

There was a morale victory for Loara tailback Coy Collins as he outgained Los Alamitos’ Erik Mitchell by 37 yards in the battle of the running backs.

But above all, there was a 16-14 victory for Los Alamitos over rival Loara Thursday night at Gahr High that puts the Griffins in an excellent position to win their third consecutive Empire League title.

A crowd of 4,800 saw Los Alamitos defensive end Hartwell Brown deflect a pass with 17 seconds remaining that preserved the Griffins’ 18th consecutive league victory over the past four seasons.

Los Alamitos (7-1, 3-0) trailed by seven points in the second half, but came back, with Wallace providing a game-winning 26-yard field goal with 9:24 remaining in the game. Wallace had missed on field goal attempts of 28 and 26 yards earlier. He also had a conversion kick blocked in the third quarter.

There was also a measure of respect for Los Alamitos’ defense, which had allowed 124 points in seven games this year, eight more than it did in 14 games last year when it was the runner-up in Division III.

“This was a great win for us,” said John Barnes, Los Alamitos coach. “We made so many mistakes, had so many penalties, and missed those two scoring chances in the second quarter, but we won the game.”

Loara (6-1-1, 2-1) was the last team to beat Los Alamitos in league play, shutting out the Griffins, 24-0, en route to the 1986 league title. Loara played Los Alamitos to a 7-7 standoff in the first half thanks to two missed field goal attempts by Wallace.

Collins scored both of Loara’s touchdowns, running one and eight yards for scores, but he got very little help offensively. He gained 133 yards in 23 carries, caught two passes for 28 yards and clearly outplayed Mitchell.

Mitchell, who was limited to 45 yards in 15 carries last week in a narrow 14-7 win over Cypress, failed to reach 100 yards again this week. He gained 96 yards in 27 carries and scored his 20th touchdown on a one-yard run in the first quarter when Los Alamitos took a 7-0 lead.

The biggest offensive numbers of the night belonged to Los Alamitos wide receiver Chad Millan. Millan caught 10 passes for 160 yards, repeatedly burning Loara’s secondary on sideline patterns.

Todd Gragnano, Los Alamitos’ steady and heady quarterback, completed 17 of 29 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown.