Los Alamitos Leaves No Doubt Against Newport Harbor in Sunset League Opener (2022)

Newport Beach – Davidson Field

Newport Beach – The Los Alamitos football team began its Sunset League title defense in convincing fashion, as it beat Newport Harbor 61-21 on Friday at Davidson Field.

“On the offensive side of the ball, we did a good job of running it. We gave the ball to Damain [Henderson]. He’s special,” Griffins coach Ray Fenton said.

The Griffins wasted no time getting on the board, as on the second play of the opening drive, Malachi Nelson tucked the ball and ran with it from the Newport Harbor 37-yard line all the way to the endzone for the touchdown. They eventually got another touchdown from Nelson, as this time, following a 40-yard completion to his future USC teammate Mekai Lemon, he found Chase Grosfeld for the 1-yard passing score.

The Sailors’ passing attack was denied on the first two drives and the run game was getting stopped by Los Alamitos’ lineman, so quarterback Colton Joseph had to improvise. On third down, with a blitz coming, Joseph faked the handoff and took off for a 61-yard rushing touchdown.

On the first play of the Griffins’ next drive, Damian Henderson, who had a monster game two weeks ago against Santa Margarita, got the carry, avoided defenders and sprinted his way in for a 71-yard score. On the next drive, Nelson used another big play to get his team into the red zone and eventually score as Nelson found Ja’ Myron Baker on the outside for the touchdown.

Baker’s touchdown eventually marked the end of the first, which took as long as the Corona Del Mar-Fountain Valley first quarter. It looked as if Newport Harbor had a promising drive going in Griffin territory, but on third down, Jerod Terry picked off Joseph and ran it back for the pick-six.

“We’re getting better. There’s things we have to clean up that we’re behind on. We made mistakes we made tonight that we shouldn’t have made in game six,” Fenton said. “Love to see a freshman like Jerod, a freshman, get a pick-six. I thought his coverage was outstanding.”

Joseph eventually got the passing game going and aided by some Los Alamitos penalties, Joseph finished the drive with a nine-yard passing touchdown to Tommy Robinson, who had to take over receiving duties for Josiah Lamarque, who was out due to a concussion. The Griffins responded with a three-play drive, which was capped off by Henderson’s second touchdown.

To Newport Harbor’s credit, it never shied away from the challenge and didn’t allow itself to get blown out that easily. It also took advantage of the Griffins penalties, which kept their offensive drives going.

The Sailors got all the way down to the opponent’s three and eventually was able to punch courtesy of Joseph’s second touchdown run. But that was the last time they would score, as Los Alamitos kept them off the scoreboard the rest of the night and used efficient scoring to build an insurmountable lead.

Los Alamitos also saw the debut of defensive end T.A. Cunningham, who had to sit out the first five games due to the sit-out period.

“I was ecstatic, I was happy to be out there. I feel like I definitely made an impact [on the game] even if it didn’t reflect on the stat sheet,” Cunningham said.

The Griffins (4-2, 1-0) return to action Thursday when they play Corona Del Mar at Davidson Field at 7 p.m. in a battle of two unbeaten teams in league. For the Sailors (4-2, 0-1), their next game is Friday at Davidson Field against Edison at 7 p.m.