Los Alamitos puts on a show in 41-0 victory over Garces
Aug. 20—A traveling circus came to town on Friday night in the form of the Los Alamitos High School football team, and the stars of their show did not disappoint.
With standout quarterback Malachi Nelson serving as ringmaster, the Griffins put on a show at Tobias Field, scoring long touchdowns on each of their first five possessions en route to a 41-0 victory over Garces in the season opener for both teams.
The golden-armed Nelson, considered the top-rated high school quarterback in the country by many scouting services, completed 22 of 29 passes for 418 yards and five first-half touchdowns. He took a seat for the fourth quarter along with many of his ultra-talented teammates with the game in hand.
The USC-commit connected on scoring plays of 43, 50, 63, 48 and 55 yards in the opening 18 minutes to put the game out of reach by halftime. He had 207 passing yards in the first quarter and finished the half 16 of 17 for 352 yards and five TDs, most coming on short throws followed by longs runs after the catch.
"A team with that much talent, there's no room for error," said Garces coach Paul Golla of Los Alamitos, ranked fifth in the state, according to Cal Hi Sports. "And we had minor mistakes. Honestly, we watched the film and it was like one person with a bad angle ... but at the end of the day, that's how you get beat.
"But I'm excited. Our kids competed all four quarters. And hopefully we watch film and this isn't a deal where anyone's getting yelled at. It's a deal where, 'hey, we have to learn from this.' This is why we (played Los Alamitos) because we want to be at (their) level."
Both teams scheduled the game late in the offseason after struggling to find a replacement for Week 1 when their original opponents dropped out.
"We're really grateful that they stepped up to play us," Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton said. "That says a lot of really good things about them. We couldn't find anybody, I'm not kidding you. I can't tell you how many teams canceled, how many said yes and then changed their minds. We were down to thinking we're probably only going to play nine games. And they stepped up. This is a great experience for us to come up here and play in Bakersfield and enjoy the heat a little bit."
The Griffins are slated to travel out of state for their next two games against one of the top-ranked teams in Florida, Plantation-American Heritage, and Arizona's No. 1, Chandler-Basha, according to the MaxPreps rankings.
"We have to go to Florida to play in the swamp next week, so this is really good for our kids, and a great experience for them," Fenton said. "But most impressive is how (Garces) stepped up to play at a high level tonight."
Trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter, the Rams put together a solid drive, moving the ball to the Los Alamitos' 32. But on a third-and-two play, Garces fumbled the hand-off and Griffin freshman Ivrick Carrigan fell on the ball to halt the drive.
Two plays later, Nelson connected with Ethan O'Connor on a 63-yard pass play to give his team a 21-0 lead with 41 seconds left in the first quarter. The duo hooked up on a 50-yard pass play just five minutes earlier. O'Conner finished with three catches for 115 yards — all in the first half.
"Ya, you make one guy miss, then you cut back ...," said Golla of the Griffins' receivers. "And not only were they great athletes, but they were physical, like very strong. If you had a bad angle, they're going to break it."
The Rams were forced to punt on their next two possessions, and Nelson wasted little time getting his team into the end zone. Chase Grosfeld took a Nelson pass 48 yards for a score just three minutes into the second quarter and Gavin Porch took another throw 55 yards for a touchdown — his second of the half — to make it 34-0 at the half. Porch had five catches for 117 yards, all in the first half.
Despite the score, Garces' effort was never lacking on the field, even as many of its standouts played on offense and defense — and some on special teams, as well. Offensively, senior David Smith was the Rams' most effective weapon, finishing with 68 yards on 13 carries.
"We had a couple of bad snaps that we couldn't recover from, but really, we have to be able to look at this film and be able to say we had this or we had that defensively, and what do we have to do to get better from a team that good," Golla said.
