High school games aren't usually this good . . . and everyone associated with the Los Alamitos High Griffins would have extra reason to agree with that assessment.
The Griffins, trailing by a point after a stunning 57-yard punt return and touchdown by Fountain Valley's Kyle Middlebrooks, got a 35-yard field goal by Dan Boyer and interceptions by Traveeon Bennett and Josh Barut to pull out a 31-22 Sunset League victory in a regular-season finale at Veterans Stadium a few minutes ago.
The win leaves the Griffins 8-2 overall and 3-2 but doesn't guarantee them a slot in the Pac-5 playoffs that begin a week tonight.
An upset by Esperanza over Newport Harbor tonight would do that (leaving those teams at 2-3 in league and leaving the Griffins and Fountain Valley tied for second and third).
But if Newport wins, it leaves the Sailors, the Griffins and Barons all tied at 3-2 . . . meaning a coin clip would be used to send one team to the at-large pool with head-to-head comp (Los Alamitos has beaten Fountain Valley but lost to Newport; the Barons beat Newport but lost to the Griffins) designating the second and third seeds.
It's too bad that either of these teams need to stay home. I'm a Moore League guy, but even I know that the Moore League NEVER EVER has more than two good football teams and certainly doesn't deserve four auto-bids. Unfortunately, that's the way the rule works for 7-team leagues, which leaves the Pac-5 with only one at-large bid. The at-large goes away next year once the Serra League adds Alemany, because that 5-team league will now get three auto-bids and the at-large will go away.