GARDEN GROVE – Los Amigos focused so well on the task at hand Thursday it can confidently and excitedly look ahead toward a bigger game.
Running back Edgar Galindo rushed for a season-high 260 yards and quarterback Steven Hernandez added 144 yards as the Lobos sprinted past Saddleback, 33-14, in a nonleague game at Garden Grove.
The Lobos (3-2) showed their focus by scoring the first 18 points. They certainly weren’t caught looking ahead toward next week’s Garden Grove League opener against four-time defending champion Garden Grove, whom they haven’t defeated since 2011.
“We were definitely focused,” Los Amigos coach Carl Agnew said. “We’re starting to really peak and move in the direction we want to go.”
Los Amigos employed a read-option attack against Saddleback (2-3). Galindo carried the ball 22 times for 260 yards, including touchdowns of 7 and 74 yards. The senior had 197 yards on 12 carries by halftime.
Hernandez, a fill-in quarterback for the injured Isaiah Potts, rushed for 144 yards on 24 carries, including touchdowns of 16 and 40 yards in the second half. Galindo and Hernandez combined for 404 yards behind Brian Ruiz, Donovan Billings, Solomon Fetalaiga, Jeff Salcedo and Destephano Garcia.
“I just want to give it to the O-line,” Hernandez said. “It’s all them. They grind it out for us. They give us clear holes. We just run through.”
Los Amigos’ defense also collected five sacks, including 1.5 by Fetalaiga. Linebacker Saul Robles also had a sack and a few hard hits while Zacharia Antolin added a sack and an interception.
Los Amigos opened a 26-6 lead in the third quarter on Hernandez’s 16-yard TD run and a safety by Joseph Vera.
Valentine Perea broke an 89-yard TD run and ran in the 2-point conversion on second effort with 5:19 left for Saddleback. He finished with 166 yards on 22 carries.
On the Lobos’ game-opening, 65-yard drive, Galindo carried four times for 66 yards and scored on a 7-yard run.
Galindo quickly struck again, breaking a 74-yard TD run on the first play of Los Amigos’ second possession for a 12-0 lead. Galindo took a handoff on a read-option play from Hernandez.
Los Amigos extended its lead to 18-0 on a 16-yard TD pass from Hernandez to Antolin with 2:10 left in the first quarter.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com