GARDEN GROVE – Bolsa Grande had a plan to keep visiting Rancho Alamitos’ high-powered passing attack on the sidelines, using a ball-control running game to mount long, time-consuming drives.
It was rather effective, at least in the first half, but it did little to slow down Vaqueros quarterback Nick Brown once the ball was in his hands, and he directed six lightning-quick scoring drives Thursday night in a 43-12 Garden Grove League romp that all but secured for Rancho Alamitos a berth in the CIF-SS Southern Division playoff field.
Brown completed 11 of 18 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, and Justin Kanyavong ran five times for 182 yards, including two long third-quarter touchdown sprints, as the Vaqueros (6-3, 2-2) solidified their hold on third place with only last-place La Quinta left on their schedule.
Rancho Alamitos, which rolled up 401 total yards on just 32 offensive plays, engineered six scoring drives averaging 66 yards on four plays over 66 seconds while building a 22-0 halftime advantage, then pulling away with three third-quarter TDs.
Three drives lasting three, one and two plays took less than a minute, with Brown connecting with Devin Velez on an 84-yard pass play at the start of the second quarter and Kanyavong racing 63 and 75 yards for scores on successive drives midway through the third quarter.
“It was a hard game to get up for, because we were so disappointed last week (a loss to Los Amigos that ended the Vaqueros’ chances to finish in the top two in league),” Rancho Alamitos coach Mike Enright said. “I was a little bit worried about that, but the kids played hard, and we did what he had to do to win.”
Joseph Lainez scored on a shuttle pass to give the Vaqueros the lead on their first drive, and Nathaniel Brown ran for a touchdown with 90 seconds to go in the first half. Noah Tiliaia caught a scoring pass at the end of the third quarter to force a running clock for the final 12 minutes.
Bolsa Grande (1-8, 1-3), which was coming off back-to-back shutout losses, pounded the ball inside with Edward Faatoalia and Cristian Najera, who combined for 99 yards. They put together an 8½-minute drive that ended with a missed field-goal attempt on the first play of the second quarter, then went nearly eight minutes on their next possession, reaching Rancho’s 11-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Matadors quarterback Anthony Porras threw for 104 yards and touchdowns to Andres Arreola, a 24-yard score on fourth down midway through the third quarter, and to James Arieta on the game’s final play.
