Los Alamitos wins one uglyђ

LONG BEACH Los Alamitos coach John Barnes summed up his team’s play in the first half against Fountain Valley with one word: "ugly."

Fortunately for Barnes and the Griffins, the Barons weren’t able to capitalize on all of Los Alamitos’ miscues in the first half. The Griffins defense kept them in the game in the first half and the offense found its rhythm in the second half to pull out a 13-3 Sunset League victory on Thursday night at Veterans Stadium.

"It was so ugly," Barnes said of the first half, which saw the Barons take a 3-0 lead. "That might have been the ugliest half of offensive football I think I’ve ever put a team on the field for. I don’t know? We were just out of sync and making mistakes."

Los Alamitos’ junior quarterback Clark Evansaccounted for three of the Griffins turnovers in the first half.

 "We were moving the ball in the first half ... we were just making big mistakes," Evans said. "I threw two picks and on that fumble I should have picked up the snap. The second half we just stopped the mistakes and I think that’s what helped us."

 Fountain Valley moved the ball well on offense, but the Griffins defense would come up with big plays once the Barons crossed midfield into Los Alamitos territory.

 Fountain Valley’s Danny Huynhpicked off Evans late in the first quarter to help set up a 34-yard field goal by Tyler Freleauxwith 10:37 left in the first half.

 Evans fumbled at Fountain Valley’s 41, and the Barons recovered but couldn’t do anything with it. Fountain Valley’s Dominic Raglandintercepted Evans in Los Alamitos’ territory, but again the Barons couldn;t turn it into any points.

 "The defense played well," Griffins receiver Darryl Jenkinssaid. "The offense picked up the slack in the second half. We did what we had to do to get the win."

 Evans and the Griffins erased any bad memories of the first half by taking the opening kickoff of the second half 65 yards in seven plays for the go-ahead score. Evans completed two 12-yard passes on the drive and ran five times, including a 9-yard scoring run that gave Los Alamitos a 6-3 lead.

 Los Alamitos added another touchdown on its first possession of the fourth quarter. Evans threw a bullet across the field to Jenkins. The defender went flying by Jenkins and just missed on an interception attempt. Jenkins made the grab and went 51 yards for a touchdown and a 13-3 lead with 7:59 remaining.

 "It was one-on-one coverage," Jenkins said. "It was a simple corner route. He (the defender) just jumped it too soon and I caught it for a touchdown. It was over when I caught it."
 Evans had 53 yards rushing in the first half and he finished with 161 yards on 28 carries. He also passed for 138 yards.

 Los Alamitos, ranked No. 6 in the county, improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league, while the Barons dropped to 4-3 and 0-2.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com