Los Alamitos Takes Over First Place in Sunset League With Victory Over Edison (2022)

Huntington Beach – ‘Cap’ Sheue Field

Huntington Beach – In the battle of the last two unbeaten teams in Sunset League play, Los Alamitos emerged victorious, winning 52-27 on Thursday at Cap Sheue Field.

In scoring 40 or more points for the fifth straight game and sixth time this season, the Griffins now have the inside track to win their third straight Sunset League title. The last time that feat was achieved was in 1953-56 when Anaheim was in the Sunset League.

“I feel like everyone did their jobs the whole game. After we let them score, we just figured them out and we just got into it, kept battling and figured it out real quick,” Sinn Brennan said.

After the first two drives from both teams resulted in interceptions, Los Alamitos finally settled into their offense, as Malachi Nelson went to work in the passing game to march his team down the field. On the first carry of the drive, Henderson rumbled his way in for a 27-yard touchdown, to put the Griffins on top first – despite a blocked extra point.

Unlike Los Alamitos’ previous two league games, its opponent responded, as the Chargers matched the Griffins’ well-timed passes with some passes from Parker Awad. Awad eventually found Carter Hogue on a 12-yard touchdown pass on a wheel route, giving the Chargers the lead at 7-6, marking the first time the Griffins trailed in league play.
The lead was short-lived, as Los Alamitos went right back to work offensively, mainly running it with Henderson, but also seeing some passes from Nelson. Ethan O’Connor nearly got the Griffins into the endzone before the quarter ended but was ruled out at the one-yard line, as the next play saw Henderson plunge into the endzone for the score.
“We call him [Henderson] the human cheat code. Every single time you hand him the ball, first down, seven yards, something,” O’Connor said about Henderson.

After Los Alamitos forced Edison to punt following a third down sack, it fed the hot hand of Henderson. Despite Henderson briefly leaving due to a leg injury, the Griffins scored from the one-yard line courtesy of Zechariah Misa.

Three plays were all it took for the Chargers to get a score, as Awad hit Tucker Tripp for a 38-yard touchdown pass despite a pair of defenders trying to prevent the score from happening. But on the second play of Los Alamitos’ drive, Nelson hit his future USC teammate Mekai Lemon on a bubble screen pass to go 73 yards for the score.
The Griffins added three more points courtesy of a 35-yard field goal courtesy of Chase McIchlan, as they went into halftime with a three-score lead.

Edison knew it couldn’t fall further behind Los Alamitos and made the most of getting the ball first in the second half. One big play the Chargers had on the drive was when Awad was going to take off and run, but lateraled the ball backwards to Hogue, who got all the way down to the opponent’s 14.

Three plays later, Awad faked the handoff and scored a rushing touchdown from seven yards out to pull the Chargers to within 10.

After Los Alamitos turned over on downs, Edison got the ball back only to see it punt. The Griffins eventually scored courtesy of Nelson finding Carson Clark for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Following a punt from the Chargers, Los Alamitos turned the ball over on downs early in the fourth quarter, as the Chargers were given a glimmer of hope to possibly come back. But Lemon, who left in the second quarter due to an ankle injury only to come back, made an acrobatic interception in the endzone.

The Griffins made Edison pay for that interception, as Nelson hit O’Connor for a 69-yard touchdown pass to put the game on ice.

“This win is super big. We had other [teams] come in [against Edison] that [couldn’t beat Edison], so we had to come in and do what we got to do,” Lemon said.

Los Alamitos (6-2, 3-0) will look to clinch at least a share of the league title next Friday when it hosts Huntington Beach at Westminster High School at 7 p.m. For Edison (7-1, 2-1), it will look to bounce back when they host Fountain Valley at Orange Coast College in the Battle of the Bell game at 7 p.m.