A Big Homecoming Night For Los Alamitos After Beating Out Newport Harbor (2021)

Westminster – Boswell Field

Los Alamitos closed out the Sunset League schedule with a never-a-doubt-about-it 48-6 victory over Newport Harbor to seal the outright league championship for the second straight season. In front of a charged-up Homecoming and Senior Night crowd at Memorial Stadium in Westminster, the Griffins set the celebratory tone from the opening kickoff.

Los Al scored straight out of the gate when senior Alec Wills wrangled in a bouncing opening kickoff near the Los Al sideline at the 20, cut back across the field breaking several tackle attempts before finding a seam up the middle and scorching to the goal line. It took all of :20 seconds to cover the 80-yards to the goal line as Wills ran about 150 yards all over the field to finally reach his destination.

Both teams settled in to a defensive standoff through the remainder of the first quarter. To its credit, Harbor held off the potent Los Al offense with junior safety Carson de Avila intercepting a Malachi Nelson pass to thwart the Griffins first series, then forcing punts without allowing a first down on the next two possessions. The Griffins defense was equal to the task, forcing a fumble on a quarterback sack on the first play of the second quarter.

The Los Al recovery set up the offense in Harbor territory where junior Nygel Osborne ripped off a 38-yard run close to the goal line. Nelson hit junior Chase Grosfeld on the next play for a 4-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Griffins lead. It was the first of Nelson’s four touchdown passes on the night, giving the junior Oklahoma commit 36 TD throws on the season, one shy of the Orange County single season record.

After Osborne scored on 20-yard run to make it 21-0, Nelson showed off his impressive arm with a spectacular 59-yard TD pass to the end zone that flew 65 yards in the air into the arms of junior receiver Ethan O’connor on the final play of the first half. The onslaught was slowed only by a Harbor interception by sophomore Josiah Lamarque midway through the second quarter.

Through a running clock in the second half, Nelson hit Wills for a 39-yard TD in the third quarter and Osborne scored on a one-yard plunge for a 48-0 lead in the 4th. The Sailors avoided the shutout on an AJ Guitron-Moore 11-yard TD pass to Lamarque on the final play of the game.

Los Alamitos finishes the regular schedule with a 9-1 overall record, a perfect 5-0 in the Sunset League.

“The last two years we went undefeated in league and that’s impressive for our kids. I’m really happy for them,” reflected Griffins head coach Ray Fenton while quickly considering the likelihood of facing Mater Dei in the first round of the Division I playoffs.

“Real tough, but that’s what we want, right?,” he said. “We want to be at that level where we play the best, not just in our area or league. In this situation, in Division I, we play the best in the country and that’s why we do it.”

Newport Harbor finishes 2-3 in Sunset League play, 3-7 overall with slim hopes of an at-large playoff bid.