GARDEN GROVE – Big plays staked Rancho Alamitos to an early lead and sent the Vaqueros into halftime with a narrow advantage Friday, but Pioneer of Whittier came up with a few of its own to pull away in the second half.
Phillip Hernandez threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns, three of them to Andy Garibay in the second half, but the visiting Titans had to hold on at the finish to escape a wild nonleague clash with a 45-40 victory at Bolsa Grande.
Nick Brown, who passed for 823 yards and 11 touchdowns in Rancho Alamitos’ first two games, went for 202 yards and four scores, including a 4-yard pass to Joseph Lainez with 1:41 to play, but the Vaqueros (2-1) did not recover the onside kick that followed nor force Pioneer (1-2) to punt in the final minute.
Matthew Finona returned the opening kickoff 75 yards and Brown hooked up with Lainez for a 31-yard score on fourth down as Rancho Alamitos opened a 14-3 first-quarter lead. The Titans rallied to go ahead on two Hernandez touchdown passes.
Brown drove the Vaqueros 68 yards, lobbing a fourth-down pass to Devin Velez to get the ball to the 4 with four seconds to go in the half, then hit Velez in the end zone as time expired.
Rancho went three-and-out on its three third-quarter possessions and turned the ball over on downs after four plays to start the final period. Pioneer opened a 45-27 lead as Brown found Garibay in the end zone on 18-, 29- and 27-yard plays.
