LOS ALAMITOS — After one half of play, the Los Alamitos football team led by two touchdowns, but that lead became a one-point deficit late in the fourth quarter.
Griffins quarterback Alonzo Esparza found Tron Baker for a check-down pass that Baker took 42 yards to the end zone and Jerod Terry added an insurance score as Los Alamitos beat Leuzinger 36-22 on Friday night in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.
The Griffins (6-5), who qualified for the postseason as an at-large selection, will host top-seeded Murrieta Valley in the quarterfinals on Friday Nov. 15.
“I’m just so relieved,” Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton said. “They’re (Leuzinger) a good football team, 8-2 on the season. They beat Santa Margarita and we were down a point late, and we didn’t have much going on and it wasn’t looking too good. But our guys’ gritty effort at the end showed up for us.”
Los Al was dangerously close to having its season come to an end after Esparza was picked off by with just over six minutes left in the game.
The Griffins defense buckled down by forcing a three-and-out and getting the ball back, which set the scene for the go-ahead score by Baker.
“We were able to hit our guy, our USC commit, Ja’Myron Baker, and he took it the rest of the way,” Fenton said.
Fenton also praised Esparza for moving past his interception and leading the go-ahead drive.
After another stop by Los Al’s defense, Terry found the end zone for a third time to put the game away.
The contest was a back-and-forth affair with momentum shifts throughout the night.
The Olympians wasted no time in seizing control of the game in the beginning.
Esparza bobbled a shotgun snap on the Griffins’ first play from scrimmage and Ted Tuimauga pounced on the loose ball for Leuzinger on the Griffins 24.
Four plays later, Journee Tonga scored from the 11 to give Leuzinger a 7-0 lead.
Los Al responded with a hurry-up offense that saw Terry break off big gain after big gain and the drive was capped by a 10-yard TD run by Terry.
Terry’s second TD run gave the Griffins a 14-7 lead and then Esparza found Beckham Hofland with a perfectly-timed pass to the back of the end zone for a 9-yard score to make it 21-7.
The Olympians began the second half with a huge spark on Mason Miller’s kickoff return that set up Tonga for a 23-yard touchdown run.
“Journee (Tonga) had the heart of a lion, yet again, every game of the season he has been an absolute workhorse,” Leuzinger coach Jason Miller said. “Our kids showed a lot of heart and gained a lot of respect, it gives us a lot of momentum going into next year.”
The Leuzinger defense, led by linebacker Samu Moala, was able to get a key stop on fourth-and-inches, swarming Esparza before he could gain a yard and took over at their 48.
They needed just four carries by Tonga to take the lead 22-21 after a 2-point conversion by Tonga.
Tonga finished with 191 yards and three touchdowns, and on the other side, Terry ran for 146 yards and three TDs.
Fenton talked about the competitive spirit between the two.
“Number 0 (Tonga) is his buddy, over there,” Fenton said about Terry. “And I think Jerod took it personal tonight to compete. You always compete well against your good friends and he really showed up tonight and did some outstanding things.”
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