Griffins Find Plenty of Fight in the Irish

It’s Week Five, and county football fans are still looking for the area’s dominant team.

Los Alamitos, which is ranked No. 1, could have put some distance between itself and the other top teams with an impressive showing against Kennedy. Instead, the Griffins can feel fortunate with a 13-7 victory Thursday night before an estimated 3,000 fans at Veterans Stadium.

It took the methodical running of Damon Johnson--195 yards and a touchdown in 37 carries--and a big effort by the Griffin defense to turn back the Fighting Irish’s upset bid, which remained viable until Kennedy quarterback Geoff Etherson’s final incomplete pass with 21 seconds to play.

The unbeaten Griffins (5-0) did their best to discourage Etherson, tackling him 12 times behind the line of scrimmage (including nine sacks) for minus 71 yards.

But the Irish defense was also resilient, giving up only Johnson’s third-quarter touchdown and two first-half field goals by Los Alamitos kicker Chris Kluwe. Kennedy kept Griffin quarterback Mike Sanford under 100 yards passing, recovered a couple of Los Alamitos fumbles and was aided several times by Los Alamitos penalties.

“Mistakes and penalties killed us tonight,” Griffin Coach John Barnes said. “But this was also a very good tuneup for what we’re going to face in [the Sunset] league, starting with Esperanza. Every game there will be a war.

“When I first looked at the schedule I thought after Tustin and (Bellflower St. John) Bosco, this might be an easier game. When I first saw them on film I thought they were good. When I saw them in person they were better than that. They played hard and would probably be the best passing team we had seen to this point.”

Still, when Johnson put Los Alamitos ahead 13-0 on a four-yard touchdown run with 2:45 left in the third quarter, it seemed the Griffins were taking control of the game.

But Jaiya Howze broke loose for an 87-yard kickoff return, setting up the Irish at the Griffin six-yard line. Steve Yaden then ran into the end zone untouched on Kennedy’s next play.

The Irish (3-2) got as far as the Griffin 37-yard line in the fourth quarter but could never pull off the big play that would have given them the upset.

“I’m really proud of the kids tonight,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said, even though his team netted only 83 yards to Los Alamitos’ 307. “I felt like we took a major step forward.”