In a battle of two highly touted and talented teams, the Los Al Griffins defeated the Lincoln Hornets of San Diego 21-17 in one of SoCal’s top intersectional battles Friday night at Westminster High.
Both teams are most known for their strong offenses, but the Griffins were led by their strong defense that never allowed the Lincoln passing attack to get in a groove. Six sacks and an interception set up the Los Al scoring in a first half which ended with the Griffins holding a 21-3 halftime edge.
But Lincoln had the better part of the second half and the Griffins had to hold on for the win, not securing it until the final play when the Los Al defense swatted away a Lincoln pass into the end zone.
The OC Register’s Manny Alvarez has the complete story which also has many photos..
Los Al’s Malachi Nelson completed 15 of 27 for 178 yards and two touchdowns against a tough Lincoln defense led by cornerbacks Jhalil Florence and Jalil Tucker who are both committed to play at the University of Oregon next year.
The game was played at Westminster High which was secured after LA County Covid regulations forced Cerritos High to cancel all football games on their campus. The change of location did not stop the Los Al fans from showing up.
THANKS FOR TOP 5, the LOCOS were on FIRE! 🏈🔥🏈 @ocvarsity @MAlvarez02 @LAHSactivities https://t.co/SDzXbzF2Ng pic.twitter.com/B19S3Rbzpo
— Los Al ASB (@asb_los) August 28, 2021
In other Los Al sports, the girls volleyball team recovered from Thursday’s loss to San Clemente to notch their fifth win of the season, beating Ocean View 3-0. Los Al was led by Elise Lenahan with 11 kills Hayden Johnston had seven.
Los Alamitos football beats San Diego’s Lincoln with hot start, gritty finish
