Los Amigos hands Garden Grove its first loss
Los Amigos hands Garden Grove its first loss
Los Amigos vs. Garden Grove
GARDEN GROVE - Jose Perez intercepted a surprise Sean Young pass in the end zone with 5 seconds to play Friday as Los Amigos seized control of its Garden Grove League destiny with a 17-14 victory over Garden Grove at Garden Grove High. (Full game stats.)
Perez, who had stepped in front of Young to intercept a Robbie Stevens pass and end Garden Grove's previous drive, was not fooled when the Argonauts' star running back/wide receiver lined up at quarterback on the game-ending third-and-10 play from the Los Amigos 16-yard line.
"When he lined up at quarterback, I thought it was a run play, but I stayed in my backpedal just in case," Perez said. "I just thought, ‘This is my ball.'."
Said Young, whose Garden Grove (7-1, 2-1) team suffered its first defeat of the season: "We could have gone for the field goal, but we decided this was our house, and we were going to go for the win. We did our best at the end, but we should have played better in the first half."
Los Amigos (4-4, 3-0) broke a 7-7 halftime tie on Ricky Vu's 6-yard touchdown run with 9:37 left in the third quarter, but the Lobos had to hold on tight after Jose Gonzalezextended the advantage to 17-7 on a 31-yard field goal with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter.
Garden Grove answered Gonzalez's field goal on the next play from scrimmage, with Stevens connecting with Jon Henderson on a crossing route for a 71-yard touchdown to make the score 17-14.
After a three-and-out for Los Amigos, Stevens found Young open down the right sideline for a 43-yard completion.
But Perez nabbed his first interception two plays later, and his 62-yard return to the Garden Grove 40-yard line with 3:45 remaining helped seal the win.
• Click here for full game stats and links to season totals and team rosters.
Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com
