LONG BEACH – Los Alamitos’ offense delivered some of its best plays on third and fourth down Thursday night. The Griffins defense played its best on almost every down. And the combination spelled trouble for San Juan Hills.
Junior quarterback Jack Telenko passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns and cornerback Dickie Brown recovered a fumble and grabbed an interception to lead the No. 9 Griffins past San Juan Hills, 42-7, in a nonleague game at Veterans Stadium.
Telenko, a transfer from Tesoro, completed 21 of 27 passes and also rushed nine times for 52 yards, including a 7-yard TD for the Griffins’ only score of the second half.
Los Alamitos (4-0), also No. 9 in the West Valley Division, led, 35-0, at halftime and didn’t allow West Valley member San Juan Hills (2-3) to score until Mike Miscione’s 1-yard run with 1:56 left in the third.
San Juan Hills entered averaging 28 points a game but the Griffins forced five turnovers and allowed only three first downs in the opening half. They did it without safety Denzal Brantley, out with an ankle injury.
“Our offense played well tonight – they’re getting better every week,” Los Alamitos coach John Barnes said. “But our defense has had four great games. … They probably set us up more than anything.”
Telenko’s first touchdown pass was an 8-yard connection on fourth-and-4 to Jacob Gasser on the Griffins’ opening drive. Later in the first, Telenko tossed a 57-yard TD pass to Joe Wysocki on third-and-long. Early in the second quarter, he connected with Schuyler Whitehead for a 15-yard touchdown pass on a third-down screen play.
“In four weeks, he’s gone from good tovery, very good,” Barnes said of Telenko.
Linebacker Matt Locher pressured San Juan Hills quarterback Patrick O’Brien with the blitz but the Griffins also got two sacks from Will Armstrong, a fumble recovery and tackle for loss by safety Timothy Tyler and late interception by Trevor Replogle.
Whitehead also scored on a 6-yard touchdown run and had a jarring hit on kickoff coverage.
Next week, Los Alamitos plays at L.A. City Section contender Narbonne of Harbor City (1-3), which will be coming off a bye. Narbonne has played one of the toughest schedules in Southern California.
“I think we’re really getting the job done,” said Locher, who scored on a 2-yard TD run. “I’m really stoked about this challenge against Narbonne heading into league.”
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
