LONG BEACH – Los Alamitos football coach John Barnes believes recruiting interest in Matt Locher will pick up in the coming weeks.
If the senior linebacker continues to perform as he did Friday night, then Barnes might be onto something.
Aside from his duties in the middle of the ninth-ranked Griffins defense, Locher rushed for three touchdowns and returned an interception 41 yards for another touchdown in a 62-27 victory over Newport Harbor in a Sunset League game at Veterans Stadium.
Los Alamitos (6-1, 2-0) had lost three consecutive games to Newport Harbor (3-4, 1-1).
“He’s the best defensive football player around,” Barnes said of Locher. “We missed him badly last year. With him we could have won the league. He’s a special player. He’s 250-pound guy, look at the way he runs around the field.
Locher had 10 total tackles, four unassisted, on defense.
“He has great instincts. His 40-time is probably horrible, but his football time is fast,” Barnes said. “He gets sideline to sideline and he can tackle … He’s a special player.”
Locher didn’t have to do too much running on his rushing touchdowns, scoring from the 2, 3 and 1-yard line. His put his open field instincts to use on the interception return.
“We actually only had 10 guys on the field on that play,” Locher said. “I was calling to the sideline when they hiked it. They ran the bootleg that they had run all game, I just read his eyes and he threw it right to me.”
Los Alamitos quarterback Jack Telenko completed 14 of 17 passes for 254 yards, two-way player Denzal Brantley rushed for 193 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns, had a 51-yard reception for a touchdown and forced a fumble.
Barnes also credited the work of the offensive and defensive lines. The Griffins rushed for 335 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I think this can be a real special season,” Locher said. “Our first goal is to win league, we haven’t done that in four years and after that, we just want to compete in that tough CIF-SS West Valley Division. I think we can make a deep run.”
The Griffins scored on every possession in the game except for one that came right before halftime.
Los Alamitos led 35-20 at halftime. The Griffins put the game completely out of reach with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Newport Harbor actually led 10-7 in the first quarter after Cole Norris’ 30-yard touchdown pass to Riley Gaddis.
The Griffins will host Marina next week. Newport Harbor will visit Edison.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
