And other scores from the third week of HS Football
By J.J. Fiddler

Los Alamitos High School quarterback Clark Evans dominated both the air and ground Thursday, scoring all six touchdowns for the Griffins in their 42-20 victory over Wilson at Veteran’s Stadium.

Evans ran in touchdowns on Los Al’s first two drives—the Griffins never led by less than 14. Los Al spread the Wilson defense out by running a single-wing offensive set in which Evans stood alone in the backfield for most of the night. No matter, though—Evans racked up 370 yards in total offense, including 154 on the ground.

“That’s some fun football,” said Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes of his offense, which compiled 433 yards and scored on six of their nine possessions. “We let (Evans) read and make the call. We put a lot of the game in his hands.”

And capable hands they were. At times it looked like the Griffins could line up with Evans alone in the backfield, tell the Bruins they were going to run the ball, and still be successful.

“It’s a lot of fun to just be a running back,” said Evans. “I didn’t even have to run around people … our blocking was great.”

Wilson looked good early, taking the opening kickoff right down the field to Los Alamtios’s 23-yard line. But quarterback Zack Kazarian and receiver Jemari Roberts fumbled a handoff and the Griffins recovered. By the time Wilson had the ball back with good field possession, Evens had already scored three times.

Right when it looked like the rout was on, Kazarian found receiver Ezell Ruffin up the seam for a 21-yard touchdown pass with about five minutes remaining in the first half, bringing the score to 21-7. The Wilson defense held and got the ball back with less than three minutes to go.

After a 30-yard run— and later a 13-yard reception on forth down— by running back Randall Hook, the Bruins were close to scoring. With seconds remaining and the ball on Los Alamitos’s four-yard line, Wilson was stuffed on a run up the middle. As time expired Kazarian tried to throw a fade but Griffin defender Paul Richardson tipped the pass away from receiver Michael Willie, preserving Los Al’s two-touchdown lead.

Los Alamitos came out of halftime and went 65 yards on seven plays, with Evans capping the drive with a seven-yard TD run. Wilson came back on the next drive and scored on a five-yard touchdown pass from Kazarian to Willie. But less than four minutes later, Evans scored again, making it 34-14 and effectively ending the game.

“On defense, we felt like we could keep the ball in front of us and not get beat with the deep ball even though they like to throw the ball,” said Wilson Coach Mario Morales. “And we did. But the runs and the screens just killed us. We’ll keep working on it and we’ll get better.”

One bright spot for the Bruins was the play of senior running back Hook, who finished with 177 yard on 16 carries, most of which he got on an 85-yard run for his only touchdown.

Next week Wilson opens Moore League play against Millikan while Los Alamitos takes on Orange Lutheran.

IN OTHER GAMES:

Poly 38, Carson 9
The Long Beach Poly defensive line played its best game of the season Friday, as the Jackrabbits beat the Carson Colts 38-9 at Veteran’s Stadium.

The Poly defense combined for six sacks, held the Colts to 18 net rushing yards and allowed only 99 total yards.

“I told everybody all summer that I was worried about the D because we lost all those great guys from last year,” said Poly Coach Raul Lara. “But these young kids are stepping up and it is neat to watch.”

The story of the night was Poly’s pressure upfront, which forced Carson quarterbacks— senior Dominique Blackman and sophomore Daniel Torres— into bad decisions, bad passes and four interceptions. Three of those were made by senior safety Vaughn Telemaque, who at times played more like a center fielder shagging fly balls than a defensive back.

Poly (3-1) scored all 17 of its first half points off those turnovers, but as Lara said to his players after the game, it should have been more lopsided.

“For us, the score doesn’t really indicate what should have happened,” Lara said. “The defense gave us a short field three times in the first half where we didn’t come up with any points. In the Pac 5 playoffs you can’t do that against Mater Dei, you can’t do that against Orange Lutheran.”

Poly’s offensive line was also dominant, allowing running backs Ricky Johnson, Melvin Richardson and Cory Westbrook to rush for a combined 177 yards and four touchdowns.
Poly (3-1) now prepares for its league opener against Lakewood while Carson (1-2) heads to Hollywood to take on Harvard-Westlake.

Jordan 13, Huntington Beach 3
Jordan leaned on running back Tylik Carter on Saturday, as Carter piled up 127 rushing yards in Jordan’s tight victory over Huntington Beach.

But Carter was all the Panthers needed, as their defense held back the Oilers’ powerful running game for most of the night. Huntington Beach, which ran the ball 35 times and passed only 14, finished the night with 86 yards rushing and didn’t get past the Jordan 40-yard line until the first drive of the second half.

Because of the strength of its defense, Jordan will be dangerous all year if it can get a lead—something it’s done in all three of its victories, especially since Carter can shorten a game like few others in the Moore League.

“He never goes down on the first hit,” said Jordan coach Scott Meyer. “He’s a fighter and a gamer. He doesn’t have the blazing speed, but he can punish a defense.”

That’s exactly what happened on Saturday. By the third quarter, Carter was carrying Huntington Beach defenders for extra yardage almost every time he touched the ball. As for the passing game, TyAries Francis didn’t look amazing—completing 10 of 18 passes for 131 yards, a touchdown and one interception—but when the Panthers needed to pass, he looked comfortable rolling out of the pocket and throwing on the move.

“This feels so good, man,” said Carter, who sat out most of last season due to an injury. “We haven’t been 3-0 in a real long time. Last year we were really upset. This year we just had to come back that much harder.”

Jordan plays at Santa Monica next week before taking on Millikan in their league opener.

Lakewood 48, Kennedy 8
Without their starting running back in the lineup, Kennedy was forced to lean on its passing game. But the Lakewood defense applied pressure all night and the Fighting Irish never got on track. The same can’t be said for the Lancer offense, though, as it used the run to open up the pass allowing quarterback Jesse Scoggins to throw for a season-high three touchdowns.

Compton 55, Fremont 8
Fremont racked up some decent numbers in the first half, but could only muster eight points, And after the half, the Compton defense buckled down. “We got a ways to go,” said coach Calvin Bryant. Compton (3-0), which has outscored its opponents 180-15, takes on Cabrillo in its league opener next week.

Mater Dei 48, Cabrillo 8
In a game matching one of the area’s newer football program’s against one of the state (and country’s) most powerful, things went as expected with the Monarchs (3-0) scoring at will in the first half. Mater Dei, ranked fifth nationally, scored on nearly every possession out of its spread offense, which shredded Cabrillo (1-2) for 48 points.

Millikan 48, Downey 41

Tags: Sports