With less than a month until the start of training camp, the Los Alamitos High football team is looking to maintain the level of play they have established and compete for league and CIF titles. After graduating several key players, the Griffins took their revamped skills group to the Battle of the Beach passing tournament on Saturday and flung the ball around with 19 other teams from throughout California and one from the state of Washington.
The event is essentially a 7 on 7 game of touch football, but there is plenty of contact in the natural process of catching and defending the pass. The Griffins struggled in pool play, losing their first two games, but were able to get on track and win their final two games to finish 2-2 and move into the Silver Championship bracket.
Los Alamitos has been able to compete in a few 7v7 events this summer and Head Coach Ray Fenton said that overall he has been pleased with the way his players have executed the playbook on both sides of the ball. Sharpening up execution is a goal in offseason events, but for a team like Los Al, with several new and young players moving into key positions, camaraderie is also a priority.
“We’ve got to get tight schematically, on both sides of the ball, we’ve got to keep tightening that down, but more importantly our chemistry has to come closer and closer, we have to get closer with each other,” Fenton said.
In bracket play, the Griffins went 3-0 to win the Silver Championship, defeating Chaparral High of Temecula, St. Bonaventure of Ventura and nearby Warren High of Long Beach in the title game. While it’s called a passing tournament, defensive units also work on pass defense. Los Al was able to get an interception late in the game that helped seal the win over Warren.
The Griffins are scheduled to open up the season on Aug. 18, against Western High of Anaheim at Western High.
