GARDEN GROVE – – La Quinta kept its hopes for an at-large playoff bid alive by defeating Santiago, 44-14, in a Garden Grove League game Thursday night.
The Aztecs (4-6, 2-3) solidified their hold on fourth place in league, while Santiago (1-9, 1-4) finished the season fifth in the six-team league.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, with La Quinta striking first on a 1-yard carry by Javier Enriquez. Santiago scored on its next series, its drive culminating in a 10-yard carry by Jason Bui, but Santiago missed the extra point.
La Quinta converted a third-and-10 on Santiago’s 23-yard line to set up an 8-yard TD pass from Gilbert Napoles to Derek Le to put it ahead, 14-6.
However, a long kickoff return by Elgio Quintero set Santiago up inside the 10 with 18 seconds left in the half. Santiago QB Angel Tajimaroa found Edgar Aispuro for a 6-yard touchdown pass. Tajimaroa connected with William Lopez for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14.
Napoles and the Aztecs offense caught fire in the second half. Napoles threw three touchdowns in four pass attempts. He finished with 195 yards through the air on 14 of 23 passes.
Dylan Do scored two touchdowns for La Quinta.
