High School Football Game of the Week

Los Alamitos High Coach John Barnes has been here before, but that

hasn’t stopped the butterflies from churning during the final week of

Sunset League football race.

“This game is making me sick to my stomach, to tell you the truth,” said

Barnes, now in his 21st season at Los Alamitos, which battles host Marina

Friday in the Independent’s Game of the Week. The winner of that showdown

will earn no less than a tie for the 1999 league championship.

“You’d think I wouldn’t feel this way after having been involved in so

many big games in the past, but I am,” Barnes continued. “Marina’s an

excellent football team. Their offensive line is super, their defense is

playing better than I can remember, and they run their option very, very

well. Actually, what’s making me sick is that I have to see (Ray)

Mietkiewicz again. Thankfully, we don’t have to see him again after

Friday’s game.”

Under Barnes guidance, Los Alamitos has won Sunset League titles in ‘98,

‘96, and ’94 - the first year both the Griffins and Esperanza joined the

league.

He’ll go after title No. 3 against a Marina squad he deems “very

dangerous.”

The Vikings’ run toward a possible Sunset title has become a near

reality, thanks to quarterback Beau Brown’s direction of the option, the

punishing rushing of Mietkiewicz, and a defense that has grown with

confidence each game.

Mietkiewicz comes into Friday’s contest with 1,567 yards and an 8.5 yards

per rush average.

A big chunk of that yardage - 853, to be exact -- has been gained in

league play.

“There are a lot of keys to this game and one of them, naturally, will be

for us to stop Mietkiewicz,” Barnes said. “But, in reality, that’s not

possible. The best we can do is try to contain him. If he gets more than

200 yards, then Marina will win; if we hold him to around 150, then I

think we have a good shot. I’m just sick trying to find a way to stop

him!”

But Barnes counters with a pretty good back of his own in senior Damon

Johnson, a Division I prospect who has captured the attention of such

Pac-10 schools as Oregon and Washington State.

Johnson, a sprinter who runs a 4.5 40, is a tough inside runner who,

Barnes says, will “beat you if he gets a step on you. However, Johnson

was banged up in the Esperanza game a month ago, but has played on. He

saw limited action last week against Huntington Beach, but scored a

touchdown in a 44-7 victory.

The Griffins, traditionally a strong passing team, have grown into their

passing attack as the season’s progressed, with quarterback Mike Sanford

throwing for 470 yards in his last two outings.

“I know it sounds crazy when I say this, but we really didn’t have a

passing game when the season started,” Barnes explained. “We’re getting

better in that respect each week, and Mike (Sanford) has come along

nicely. He was right on the money last week against Huntington, and we’ll

need him to do that again to get by Marina.”

This championship showdown might become a tale of two talented backs, but

the keys to the contest for Marina will be its ability to hold on to the

football and solve what has become a very strict Los Alamitos defense.

“They’ve got a great defense, a good running back, and a solid passing

game, and those add up to a lot of strong elements,” said Marina Coach

Mark Rehling, whose Vikings are poised on the threshold to win the

school’s first league championship since 1986. “I really think the key

for us will be our ability to play defense the way we did at the

beginning of league play.