Football: Los Alamitos 7, Canyon 0

Los Alamitos won another game, but the final score of this nonleague contest at El Modena High is sure to raise some eyebrows. Los Alamitos is supposed to be one of the best teams in Orange County, and Canyon is clearly rebuilding after going 3-7 a year ago. This game wasn’t supposed to be close.

Score: Los Alamitos 7, Canyon 0

Key Stats: Andrew Derlin rushed for 138 yards and passed for 32 in an emergency role as Canyon’s quarterback; he accounted for more yards than Los Alamitos despite the losing effort.

Pivotal Moment: When the opportunity presented itself, Los Alamitos seized it. Nick Wendell passed 9 yards to Dashawn Gordon for the game’s only touchdown, in the first quarter.

Quotable: “We played as poor an offensive game as we could play,” Los Alamitos coach John Barnes told the Orange County Register.

Records: Los Alamitos (3-0), Canyon (1-3)

Notes:  Even though Los Alamitos scored once, it got inside the Canyon 15-yard line a couple of times but turned the ball over on downs. … This was the second shutout for the Los Alamitos defense. … Canyon starting quarterback Corey Elsasser missed the game with an ankle injury. The second- and third-string quarterbacks were injured during the week. … Derlin is a running back normally and hasn’t played QB all year. … By comparison, Derlin did pretty well; he completed 5 of 21 passes with no interceptions, compared to Wendell, who completed 5 of 20 for 74 yards and an interception. … Canyon coach Jim Kunau was previously at Orange Lutheran, where he developed that program into one of  Pac-5’s best. He had a couple of victories over Los Alamitos when the program was still lower division. … Next week Los Alamitos plays on the road against Lynwood (0-2), another game that shouldn't be close.

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: Is Los Alamitos in trouble or was this a little bump in the road in advance of winning the Sunset League title?