WESTMINSTER – Los Alamitos found the end zone six times in the first half and held Marina to minus-79 yards rushing and just 24 yards of total offense while romping to a 47-0 victory in a Sunset League opener at Westminster High.
Hayden Smith threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns, Keanu Norman rushed for 91 yards and two scores, and Drew Platt returned an interception 67 yards for another, the first of two touchdowns in a 14-second span as the Griffins (4-2) took a 21-point lead late in first quarter.
It’s Los Alamitos’ seventh shutout in the last 14 meetings and second in a row, and it was as one-sided as the score suggests. Still, Coach Ray Fenton wasn’t particularly pleased afterward. The Griffins were sloppy, producing 101 yards in penalties – a couple erasing big plays – three turnovers, several more fumbles that weren’t lost and a punt that went for minus-3 yards.
“We’ve got a long ways to go,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we need to fix. We’ve got to get a lot better next week. … The penalties are just embarrassing. We’ve got to get them fixed right now.”
Nonetheless, it was 40-0 by halftime, and Marina (2-4), which has lost 57 consecutive Sunset League games dating to 2004, had minus-36 yards total before a game-ending drive reached Los Al’s 12 before a bad snap killed the momentum. Los Al’s defense, led by lineman Joey Noble, blitzed Green constantly, sacking him eight times for 65 yards.
Los Al struggled on three of its first four drives, opened the scoring on Smith’s 40-yard pass to Mike Magana about six minutes in started the scoring., but took over command on Platt’s interception return with 1:48 left in the quarter. Trevion Ballard then picked off Green to start the Vikings’ next drive, and Norman scampered 29 yards on the following play to make it 21-0.
Los Al added three second-quarter touchdowns on long plays. Smith ran 38 yards for one score and hit Kenui Huey for a 25-yard pass on another. Norman went 18 yards after a 52-yard Smith-to-Huey completion. The Griffins added Eliel Davis’ 18-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half, which was played with a running clock.
