Los Alamitos Rolls Over Fountain Valley in Thursday Nights Game (2021)

Huntington Beach -‘Cap’ Sheue Field

Los Al finds themselves now sitting at (7-1 / 3-0), as they extend their unbeaten streak in the Sunset League. For the Barons it was another tough outing, as they suffered their third straight league defeat and fell to (1-7 / 0-3).

It was early and often for Malachi Nelson and the Griffins offense; who exploded for seven touchdowns on all seven of their opening half drives. Nelson threw for 340 yards with six passing touchdowns, as well as rushing for another in the two quarters he played.

Nelson got his team under way with a four play drive that saw him and Makai Lemon change roles and hook up on a 20-yard pass, before Nelson hit Lemon on a fade into the endzone for a 2-yard score. It gave the Griffins a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game.

That lead would be extended quickly with Los Al holding Fountain Valley to three and outs on their opening two possessions, and scoring on both of their drives.

Nygel Osborne picked up his first receiving touchdown of the season when Nelson found him in the endzone with a 19-yard pass on drive number two for the Griffins; this drive also included all three of Nelson’s incompletions, who from here out would throw five straight completions and four touchdowns before being substituted at halftime.

That five completion stretch was simply dominant by Nelson, who would have his next three drives end on a single pass that had the Griffins finding the endzone. He hit Alec Wills for a 49-yard TD pass, then it was 65-yards to Deandre Moore, and lastly 50-yards to Ethan O’connor.

Fountain Valley’s offense never found its footing against a Griffins defense that didn’t force any turnovers on the night, but did hold the Barons to a single first down during the opening two quarters.

It was a historic night for Malachi Nelson who became the 2nd all-time passing TD leader at Los Alamitos high school tying Jimmy Barnes and Clark Evans, when he connected with Makai Lemon on a 50-yard TD pass in quarter number two.

Nelson now trails only Kevin Feterick who passed for 58 TDs between 1993-1995.

His night would end just one passing touchdown shy of the record, but Nelson did add a seventh TD on the ground to increase the Griffins lead to 49-0.

By the time the second half got underway both teams began to let the clock run down, and Los Alamitos had brought in their second unit.

Similar to the starters the second unit found early success, as freshman quarterback Husan Longstreet took over and carried the ball on four straight plays going downfield for 22-yards, before scoring his first ever senior Los Alamitos touchdown.

Owen Tomko did manage to keep the Barons from getting shutout, as he found Drew Reyes matched up in one-on-one coverage during the fourth quarter. The passing TD by Tomko closed the book on the scoring, as both Los Al and Fountain Valley seemed keen to let the clock begin to tick down.

It wasn’t an ideal night for the Barons who were out of the contest from the first quarter on, but they managed to never turn the ball over to the Griffins, and were rewarded with the eventual touchdown.

Tomko faced a tough defensive line that had two sacks against him, and left the Fountain Valley running game questioning whether or not they had their feet below them.

Ben Pham and Abdel Habibeh faced resistance all night long, as they were met at the line time and time again. The pair combined for just about 2.5 yards per attempt, with their averages tanked by 6 TFLs by the Griffins.

One of those TFLs came by Liki Lotulelei, a Los Al freshman who suited up as a starter and was game from the very first snap on. He recorded two tackles including the one TFL that came for a loss of 1-yard.

This week the defense didn’t have to step up for the Griffins, so it was nice seeing new faces such as Lotulelei get their opportunity. It was also nice seeing the Griffins elect to kneel out their final two drives; even while in the red zone on the first one.

Next week the Griffins will take on the Huntington Beach Oilers, as they once again play at Cap Sheue field this time on a Friday night at 7 p.m. Fountain Valley will set their sights on a battle for the Bell showdown against Edison.