THE PREPS : Garden Grove League Football Roundup : Kennedy Rolls to 36-7 Victory

With the Southern Section football playoffs just a week away, Kennedy High School was able to solidify its No. 2 seeding in the Garden Grove League with an impressive 36-7 victory over Rancho Alamitos Thursday in front of 300 at Bolsa Grande High School.

The Fighting Irish (7-2-1 overall, 6-1 in league play) ends the regular season in second place behind Pacifica and will wait until Sunday to see whom they will meet in an opening round playoff matchup. Rancho Alamitos ends its season 2-8, 1-6.

Kennedy was led by senior quarterback Pete Montera, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“When you give Montera time, he can throw the football, “ Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. “He has had an outstanding season and I just can’t say enough about what he’s done for our offense this year.”

Rancho Alamitos, which lost 6 of its last 7 games, took a 7-0 lead, but Kennedy struck back during a 3-minute span in the second quarter.

Ed Williams’ 14-yard touchdown run and Larry Jensen’s extra point tied the score at 7-7. After a Kennedy interception, Montera fired a 25-yard scoring pass to Gregg Hansell to give Kennedy a 13-7 lead. The Fighting Irish converted a two-point conversion pass from Steve Roth to Tom Deep for a 15-7 halftime lead.

Montera completed 2 fourth-quarter scoring passes, connecting with Steve Lundby for a 44-yard touchdown and then with Deep for a 4-yard score to give Kennedy a 29-7 lead with 7:35 left to play.

The Vaqueros’ offense sputtered the entire game, giving up the ball on 2 interceptions and 4 fumbles. Kennedy converted a late fumble by David Singletary when Russ Clark picked up the ball and ran 26 yards for the game’s final score.

Singletary gained 101 yards in 23 carries for Rancho Alamitos. Williams paced Kennedy with 33 yards and 1 touchdown in 8 carries.