Football: Los Alamitos 21, Huntington Beach 14

The potential for a three-way tie in the Sunset League took another step forward as Los Alamitos came back from a two touchdowns deficit to beat Huntington Beach.  The Griffins are tied with Edison and Newport Harbor, but none of the three play each other next week.

Los Alamitos has the toughest assignment in the final week of the season: It plays host to Fountain Valley, which had been the fourth team tied for first place prior to its 24-0 loss to Edison on Friday.

Score: Los Alamitos 21, Huntington Beach 14

Key Stats: Nick Wendell passed for 156 yards and a touchdown, a 6-yarder to Kendall Brownlow with 5:27 left in the first half, for Los Alamitos.

Pivotal Moment: Trailing by a touchdown at halftime, Los Alamitos came out of the break and drove 72 yards in seven plays as Damonte King scored from three yards. Finally on even footing, it was Los Al’s game to seize.

Quotable: “The playoffs started last week,” Los Alamitos coach John Barnes told the Orange County Register. “Winning last week (against Edison) made this week that much bigger. They’re all tough games and we’ve got to win them all.”

Records: Los Alamitos (8-1 overall, 3-1 in Sunset League), Huntington Beach (4-5, 1-3)

Notes: King scored twice in the second half on 3-yard runs. The second came with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. … Los Alamitos wasn’t out of the woods until the final play of the game. The Oilers had driven to the Los Al 17 and Kai Ross passed into the end zone, but Derek Worthy broke up the play to preserve the Griffins victory. … Ross passed for 171 yards, including a 5-yard scoring pass to Maurice Barber, and ran for 51. … Barber had 101 yards receiving. … Hunter Simmons gave Huntington Beach a 14-0 lead with a 6-yard scoring run with 8:11 left in the half. … For the seventh time in nine games, an opponent failed to score more than 14 points against the Griffins. ... This was a dangerous game for Los Alamitos because Huntington Beach was one of the favorites to contest for the league title, and actually finished second to Edison in a preseason prediction by coaches. ... Los Alamitos is 10th in the Orange County Top 10 this week and No. 3 in the Southern Section Southwest Division rankings. Edison is No. 4 and Newport Harbor is No. 7.