WHITTIER – Rancho Alamitos came to life in the third quarter, but it could not recover from a poor first half and dropped a nonleague game to Pioneer of Whittier, 38-15, on Friday night.
The Titans (3-0) were clinging to a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter, but three touchdowns in the second quarter put them in control with a 24-0 halftime lead. Meanwhile the Vaqueros (1-1) could not get anything going as they had only 16 yards and no first downs until their final possession of the first half.
The Vaqueros finally got going on offense in the second half. Quarterback Blake Culbert completed 5 of 6 passes for 60 yards on the first possession of the second half and the Vaqueros got on the scoreboard with a 38-yard field goal from Emmanuel Cuevas. After the Vaqueros defense forced a punt, Culbert and the offense continued their improved play in the second half.
This time they drove 62 yards, with Culbert finishing the drive with a 37-yard TD pass to Jesse Candelario to cut the lead to 24-9.
That was as close as the Vaqueros got as the Titans put the game away in the fourth quarter on two TDs by Anthony Ramos.
The Vaqueros added one more touchdown late, a 38-yard run by Miguel Rosales.
