Football: Rancho Alamitos Whips Los Amigos, 29-14, to Win League Title

Los Amigos' football team started fast against Rancho Alamitos as the teams squared off for the Garden Grove League football title on Thursday night. But the Lobos made too many mistakes and Rancho Alamitos took advantage by doing what they do best. The Vaqueros leaned on their running game as Brett Hurley ran for 233 yards and beat Los Amigos, 29-14, at Garden Grove High.

Rancho Alamitos (9-1 overall, 5-0 in league), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section's Southern Division coaches' poll, won the league title for the first time since 2006, while the No. 7 Lobos will now enter the playoffs as the second-place team from the league. Los Amigos had won only four games in the previous two seasons combined, but the Lobos came of age this season to go 8-2 and 4-1.

After taking a 14-0 lead early in the game, Los Amigos turned the ball over five times and Rancho Alamitos slowly took control of the game. The Vaqueros finally took the lead, 15-14, on a 19-yard field goal by Jose Valenzuela with 6:24 left in the third quarter.

Los Amigos then fumbled the ball away each of its next two possessions. The Vaqueros took advantage of the second turnoer, driving 60 yards in 10 plays for a four-yard touchdown run by Hurley that pushed their lead to 22-14. Hurley carried the ball nine times on the drive, but a 34-yard pass from Lincoln Faletoi to Robert Torres provided the big blow.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot tonight in turnovers and uncharacteristic things that we did,” Lobo coach Carl Agnew said.

Rancho Alamitos would take the ball back on the ensuing Lobo possession with an interception by Falani Fiaseu. That would lead to a 63-yard drive that ended with Hurley running nearly untouched for an eight-yard touchdown that gave the Vaqueros the 29-14 margin. Los Amigos would fumble again with 4:48 left and the Vaqueros ran the rest of the clock out.

The turnaround was shocking to the Lobo faithful, who saw their team jump to a quick 14-0 lead. Los Amigos took the opening kickoff and scored in only three plays to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Danny Hernandez completed a 23-yard pass to Felix Cruz to the Vaqueros' 46-yard line. Jerry Saldivar followed that with 31-yard run to the 15, then Lenonard  Zambrano capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

The Lobos stopped the Vaqueros on their first two possessions, including on fourth-and-one at the Los Amigos 16 to take over on downs. That would lead to an 84-yard drive that ended with Hernandez running three yards around the right side for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Hernandez also broke a 50-yard run earlier in the drive that got the Lobos to the Vaqueros' 28-yard line.

The Lobos were looking for their first outright league title since 2003, when they won the second of back-to-back league titles. They finished in a three-way tie with Garden Grove and Santiago for the title in 2008.

Agnew said his team learned a lot about itself after a loss to Irvine in Week 4. They were able to win their next five games and Agnew is hopeful they can take a similar lesson from this loss. “I think they’re going to learn for this one tonight, I hope, and understand what it’s like to play in the playoffs because this was a playoff atmosphere-type of game.”

Playoff pairings will be announced by the section office on Sunday and first-round games will take place next weekend. A league's first-place finisher is likely to be paired against another league's third-place team, and second-place finishers often are paired against each other. The Southern Division championship game is set for Friday, Dec. 9.