GARDEN GROVE – Nick Brown was nearly unstoppable Friday night, throwing for 283 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half, to lead Rancho Alamitos to its sixth successive CIF-SS playoff berth.
The Vaqueros, ranked seventh in the Southern Division, scored on every possession through the first three quarters on their way to a 63-13 rout of La Quinta at Bolsa Grande High to claim third place in the Garden Grove League.
Brown, who seemed to have unlimited time in the pocket, completed 13 of 18 passes – connecting on his final eight throws, four of them for scores – as Rancho Alamitos (8-2, 3-2) rolled to a 49-6 advantage by halftime, leading to a running clock for the second half.
Tam Le ran for 122 yards on 18 carries for the Aztecs (1-9, 0-5).
Brown went over 3,000 yards for the season on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Lainez with a little more than 2½ minutes to go in the first half.
“That was my goal at the beginning of the season, 3,000 yards,” said Brown, who has thrown for 38 touchdowns, including at least five in six different games.
“This win gives us a little confidence going into the playoffs, lets us know that this is what we can do, and it kind of gives us that swagger where we can do what we want to do.”
Lainez caught four passes for 105 yards, his fifth 100-plus game of the year, and Joe Navar caught four for 188, including a miraculous grab on third-and-19 to set up a Justin Kanyavong TD run for a 21-6 lead on the first drive of the second quarter.
Six of seven-first half scoring drives took 41 or fewer seconds, the Vaqueros scored in the first play on two of them and on the second play on another. They had seven gains of at least 30 yards, plus an 80-yard return with a fumble recovery, by Robert Tran, for a third-quarter score.
Le had a 57-yard sprint for a first-quarter touchdown.
