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Coach John Barnes, players reflect on big win over Foothil; eye next opponent Fullerton

By Robert Morales - Press Telegram, 11/18/13, 5:45PM PST

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TUSTIN >> John Barnes, longtime head coach of the Los Alamitos High football team, had a reaction to Friday night’s 42-0 destruction of Foothill in the first round of the Southwest Division playoffs that was understandable. He said he was “shocked” at the way his team took care of a host Knights team that had won a league championship.

Indeed, on paper, one would have figured Foothill - champion of the Century League - to be the favorite against a Griffins team that came into the post-season as an at-large entry from the Sunset League even if they did come in with identical 8-2 records. Furthermore, Los Al was coming off a 10-7 upset-loss to Fountain Valley in its league-finale. Notice the Griffins scored just seven points in that one.

Well, Barnes may have been joyfully shocked, but his two stars of the show were not.

“I mean, I don’t think we’re amazed,” said junior linebacker Blake Johnson, who played an absolute tremendous game that included loads of tackles and a 12-yard sack of Foothill quarterback Sean McGaffigan. “We came out expecting to win and that’s what we did, man, nothing more to it. We just came out and executed what our coach told us to do.”

Barnes was kind of funny afterward when asked about Johnson.

“He must have made a hundred tackles,” he said, exaggerating, but understandably so because Johnson was that good.

Quarterback Nick Wendell had what Barnes said was his best game of the year by completing 12 of 19 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Like Johnson, Wendell said he was not astonished at what his team did.

“No, not at all,” said Wendell, who completed nine of his last 10 passes. “We knew we had this in us. We just had to lay it out.”

Barnes said he expects Wendell to keep it going.

“That’s what I think he’ll do the rest of the year,” said Barnes, whose team will next play at Fullerton in the quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m. Fullerton (9-2) is the third-place team from the Freeway League and defeated Placentia Valencia 29-21.

The other positive aspect of Friday’s victory was that it was the Griffins’ first in the playoffs since 2004. Barnes noted that during almost all of those lean years his team was playing in Division I (Pac-5). It wasn’t until last year that Los Al was moved into the Southwest, which is Division VI.

“We were in Division I busting our chops losing close games in the first round to really good teams,” Barnes said Saturday morning as his team was breaking down film of Fullerton. “It just feels really good to win, to be here today, to get a chance at another win and get to double digits and keep on playing.”

Regarding Fullerton, Barnes talked about how solid its quarterback - senior Scott Lloyd - figures to be next Friday. At the same time, Barnes wondered if the Indians have seen any team this year as strong defensively as the Griffins, who have allowed only 111 points in 11 games - about 10 per game.

“I don’t know,” Barnes said, “if they have faced anyone who plays defense like us,”

Furthermore, Barnes said, “Nobody in the division can play defense like we can.”

McGaffigan completed just 7 of 16 for 42 yards Friday against that defense. According to Barnes, his team tallied 10 pass break-ups; the Knights managed just 45 yards on the ground for a total offense of 87 yards.