Under Fenton, the sky is the limit for Los Al football

All the Los Alamitos High football team did under then first-year head coach Ray Fenton in 2016 was advance to the CIF Southe Section Division 3 semifinals, where it fell to La Mirada, 36-20. After posting a 9-4 record last season and finishing second in the Sunset Lesgue, the Griffins have high hopes in 2017 that include bringing home the school’s fifth CIF-SS title, the first since 2002, and even more than that.

“We want a state championship,” senior linebacker Issaiah Johnson. “We need the ring.”

The Griffins graduated 31 seniors, including multiple starters on offense and defense. But Johnson, a University of Arizona commit, is back along with junior running back Keanu Norman, who was named the 2016 Sunset League Co-Offensive Back of the Year despite playing for much of the second half of the season with a to meniscus in his left knee.

“We think of Norman has a national guy,” Fenton said. “He tested at the top 2 percent at the Nike Combine and he did that as a sophomore.”

Two players to keep an eye out are senior quarterback Grant Caraway and senior linebacker Alex Miskela, who transferred from St. John Bosco.

“(Miskela) brings that physicality and size and speed that we need,” Johnson said. “He is just an all-around athlete.”

Caraway was the backup to Hayden Smith last year and now takes over the signal-calling duties.

“Last year, he was our No. 2 and he made plays with his feet when he had a chance to play,” Fenton said. “This year, he is making plays with his arm and we know he can make plays with his feet, so he is that true dual threat now.”

The Griffins have a tough schedule that includes opening the season against Poly on Aug. 25 at Veterans Stadium. Los Al also travels to JSerra on Sept. 22 but perhaps the biggest game of its season will be on Oct. 20 at Edison. The Chargers won the Division 3 title last year and since 2005, Edison or Los Al has at least clinched a share of the Sunset League title.

“Anytime you line up, you want to play to win the game and our schedule is pretty stiff,” Fenton said. “We have Poly. We have JSerra. That’s who we want to be, we want to be in that conversation and we have to play those guys.”

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