Los Amigos football lights up scoreboard in season opener

GARDEN GROVE —  Los Amigos hit the ground running in its season opener, leaving little doubt of the outcome after the first quarter against Santiago on Thursday night.

The Lobos found the end zone four times in the opening period en route to a 46-7 rout of the Cavaliers in a nonleague football game at Michael A. Monsoor Memorial Stadium.

“The expectation is high because it has to be,” Los Amigos coach Romel Guess said. “When you’re led by as many seniors as we’re led by, we’re kind of putting all our eggs into this basket this season to make a run. We know we needed to start tonight.”

Senior Isaac Galindo rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns, scoring twice in a first quarter that saw the Lobos jump out to a 26-7 lead.

Senior Raul Cruz, who had 95 rushing yards and two touchdowns, sprinted across the goal line from 33 yards out to open the scoring for Los Amigos (1-0).

After Ozzy Granados tied it up with a 59-yard dash to the end zone for Santiago (0-1), the former Garden Grove League rival of Los Amigos, Galindo would convert back-to-back offensive plays into touchdowns. Both came on red-zone carries, the second immediately following a special teams miscue with the punt team on the field for the Cavaliers.

“It is pretty fun,” Galindo said. “It’s a lot to handle, coming from maybe seven carries a game, but it’s nice. I’m really looking forward to taking over this offense.”

Senior wide receiver Chris Flores worked for yards after the catch on his first three grabs. After Jayvin Le converted a fourth-and-5 with his legs, the junior quarterback took a deep shot, and Flores came down with it in double coverage. The duo connected on a 3-yard touchdown on the next play, giving Flores five catches for 102 yards with four seconds left in the first quarter.

“I just saw the ball up there,” Flores said of his downfield catch that set up a touchdown. “I’m trying to give [Le] a good look, and he’s giving me a good look.”

Le threw for 176 yards and a touchdown without committing a turnover. The Edison transfer also carried the ball eight times for 45 yards.

Amari’e Maddox, a junior transfer from Long Beach Jordan, had four catches for 52 yards.

Los Amigos, which matched its season-high scoring mark from a year ago in a 46-14 win at Bolsa Grande, accumulated 283 rushing yards. An offensive line anchored by right tackle Aaron Barba and left tackle Jesus Contreras also included center Bryant Merida, and Steven Cortes and Issacc Vergera at the guard positions.

Guess called the offensive line the “catalyst” for the Lobos, adding that all five starters had at least three games of starting experience on the line coming into the season.

“I like defense, but I was always an offensive player,” said Barba, who is a junior. “For motivation this year, I think we have a great team. We can make it far.”

Hector Arroyo capped the scoring with a goal-line run in the final minute.

Los Amigos won its third consecutive game over Santiago. Prior to that, the Cavaliers had won five in a row against the Lobos from 2017-2021, which came on the heels of a seven-game winning streak in the series for Los Amigos from 2010-2016.

The Lobos played their first game on campus last season. Los Amigos will host Yermo Silver Valley on its turf field on Friday, Aug. 30. Los Amigos athletic director Chris Sandro said next week’s football game is the only one scheduled to take place on campus this fall.

Nonleague

Los Amigos 46, Santiago 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Los Amigos 26 - 0 - 6 - 14 — 46

Santiago 7 - 0 - 0 - 0 — 7

FIRST QUARTER

LA — Cruz 33 run (Arroyo kick), 9:26.

S — Granados 59 run (Luna kick), 7:46.

LA — Galindo 10 run (Arroyo kick), 5:57.

LA — Galindo 5 run (Arroyo kick failed), 3:18.

LA — Flores 3 pass from Le (Arroyo kick failed), 0:04

SECOND QUARTER

None.

THIRD QUARTER

LA — Cruz 2 run (Arroyo kick failed), 7:18.

FOURTH QUARTER

LA — Galindo 1 run (Aviles kick), 7:40.

LA — Arroyo 1 run (Aviles kick), 0:56.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

LA — Cruz, 8-95, 2 TDs; Galindo, 11-91, 3 TDs.

S — Gonzalez, 11-90; Granados, 5-72, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

LA — Le, 11-21-0, 176.

S — Gonzalez, 6-21-0, 43.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

LA — Flores, 6-109, 1 TD.

S — Valadez, 1-20.