Los Alamitos Goes for Broke, Wins

CERRITOS —  Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes made the tough, but correct, call on the football field Thursday night.

Now he can only hope that assistant coach Frank Doretti can make a lucky call at a coin flip this morning.

Los Alamitos defeated Loara, 14-13, in an Empire League game at Gahr High School, setting up a coin flip today that could determine whether the Griffins go to the Southern Section Division III playoffs.

Barnes’ game-winning decision came with Los Alamitos trailing, 13-12, after George Sagen caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Tim Carey with 7 minutes 28 seconds left in the game. He wanted the Griffins to go for a two-point conversion.

The Griffins lined up to kick the extra point, but Bryan Kolasa’s foot never met the ball. Holder Don Ruberio, a backup quarterback, pulled the ball away, rolled to his right and threw to a wide-open Sagen in the end zone.

“A tie did us no good,” Barnes said. “We knew that going into the game. We knew we weren’t going to get many more chances to score. I would have made the call even if it was late in the third quarter.”

The victory tied Los Alamitos (8-2, 3-2 in league) with Loara (6-4, 3-2) for second place in the league behind Esperanza. El Dorado could make it a three-way tie with a victory over Katella tonight.

Representatives from the three teams will meet this morning at Cypress High School for the coin flip. The top three teams from each league, as well as one at-large entry, qualify for the Division III playoffs.

The scenario:

--If Los Alamitos wins the coin flip, the Griffins will finish second in the league.

--If the Griffins lose the flip, and El Dorado beats Katella, the Griffins would drop to fourth place and would have to wait until the at-large entries are announced Sunday morning.

Regardless of the coin flip’s outcome, Barnes said he thinks the Griffins have a good chance at an at-large berth based on their overall record. The Griffins have qualified for the playoffs every year since 1983.

“We’re in,” he said. “We’re 8-2, and I think the strength of our league will get us in. But I would just as soon we go as a second-place team.”

Loara had the ball three times in the final seven minutes, but failed to score. Sagen and Marco Dominguez each had interceptions to stop Loara drives, and Saxon quarterback Mister Albritton was tackled at the Saxon 40 on the game’s final play.

Sagen finished with 10 catches for 109 yards, while Carey completed 14 of 29 pass attempts for 125 yards.

Los Alamitos scored on its opening possession, driving 51 yards to the Loara 14-yard line to set up Bryan Kolasa’s 32-yard field goal.