Los Alamitos upends No. 1 Edison

LONG BEACH- Los Alamitos made sure that No. 1 remained a dangerous spot for Orange County football teams.

The Griffins continued the trend of parity on the gridiron by defeating top-ranked Edison, 23-19, in a Sunset League game that was settled on the final play Thursday night at Veterans Stadium. (Full game stats.)

Paul Richardson knocked down a pass in the end zone from Edison quarterback Matt Viles on the last play as the fourth-ranked Griffins improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.

“It was a real big game,” Richardson said. “We all played together and that’s how we won.”

Last week, previously top-ranked Mission Viejo lost to Tesoro. Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran also have fallen from the county’s top perch.

Edison (5-2, 1-1) had a chance to win the game after Los Alamitos’ Clark Evans raced 35 yards toward his end zone and stepped out for a safety with three seconds left. Leading 23-19, Los Alamitos’ free kick went out of bounds, and after the penalty was stepped off, Viles had a chance from the Griffins 45.

The Chargers had cut their deficit to 23-17 with 2:35 left. After Edison partially blocked a punt, Viles capped a short drive by connecting with wide out Jeff Trojan for three consecutive passes, including a 6-yard touchdown.

But the frantic final minutes only highlighted the three turnovers forced by Los Alamitos.

Richardson, a junior wide receiver, forced the last one. With Los Alamitos leading 23-10 with 5:44 to play, Richardson halted an Edison drive by stripping a ball loose that Jonathan Cheri recovered at the Griffins 13.

“Our defense played great and we got some turnovers,” Los Alamitos coach John Barnes said. “We were opportunistic on offense and made enough plays to win.”

Los Alamitos used a trick play to score the decisive points.

After Edison moved to a 16-10 deficit in the third quarter, Evans threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to receiver Darryl Jenkins after a nice fake.

Evans tossed the ball to running back Cody Perez  on a sweep right, and Perez threw a lateral back to Evans, who found Jenkins open at the Edison 30. Jenkins then cut up field and scored.

“We knew we had to catch them off guard sometime,” said Richardson, a decoy on the play. “We’ve been practicing it (the play) all season.”

Los Alamitos recovered two fumbles in the first half and scored 10 points off the turnovers to take the 16-10 lead at halftime.

Edison turned an interception by Jullien Herrera on the opening possession of the game into a 4-yard touchdown pass by Viles to William Andrew. That was Los Alamitos’ only turnover.

“You can’t have turnovers against a team like Los Alamitos,” said Edison coach Dave White. “They caused them and made the plays.”

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com