GARDEN GROVE defense swarms Aliso Niguel ball carrier in Argonauts’ 28-14 CIF-SS Division 9 semifinal win Friday night (Orange County Tribune photos by Christopher Abdelmalek).

By Christopher Abdelmalek

With turkey day just around the corner, playoff games are starting to get more and more intense like a great sale on Black Friday. The Argonauts of Garden Grove High School traveled to south to face off against the Wolverines of Aliso Niguel High School. Both teams came in with matching 10-1 records and both teams came off of impressive first round victories over their opponents. The second round proved to be much the same for the Argos as they defeated the Wolverines 28-14 at Aliso Niguel High School Friday night.

MIKE CARRILLO races towards one of his four TDs Friday night as Garden Grove High defeated Aliso Niguel 28-14 in a CIF-SS Division 9 semifinal game.

This game had everything going for it. One of the top rushing attacks in Southern California versus one of the top aerial attacks in the region. The first score of the game came on the opening drive from the Wolverines. They marched the ball down with little resistances from the Argos defense. Quarterback Kyle Robertson for the Wolverines ran it in from one yard out to take the lead 7-0. The Argos would answer back in the second quarter with a touchdown from running back Mike Carrillo to make it 7-7.

The Argos defense was on its toes for a good part of the first half. The Wolverines offense, while short in the sense of down field attempts, passed all over the Argos defense with quick slants and shovel passes in the first half. A few miscues from both teams allowed Aliso Niguel to score late in the first half to take a 14-7 lead.

“We are going to play Argo football, we are going to run the ball . . .  we are going to score, we going to stop them and we are going to score again,” Coach Ricardo Cepeda said to his team after the first half was over.

That would be the case as Aliso would not score a single point in the second half. Garden Grove made some adjustments during the break and took over the game. Carrillo was the bell cow once again in this one as he carried the ball a staggering 40 times for the tune of 289 yards and four touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. “He is the best running back in Orange County, period,” Cepeda said of his star running back. Carrillo also had three pass deflections on defense, two of those were near interceptions that he dropped on the field.

Quarterback Jacob Zazueta said “Our O-line are the heart and soul of this team. They opened the hole for Mikey and that helped us out.” Carrillo also spoke highly of his team after the game. “It was win or go home, and I know our team as a unit did not want to go home.”

The final in this one was 28-14. Garden Grove will take on San Gorgonio of San Bernardino next week on the road once again. Game time will be at 7:30 p.m.

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Earlier  …. Garden Grove and Western high schools’ football tams each posted quarterfinal victories Friday night in the CIF-SS playoffs.

Garden Grove (11-1) rallied from behind in a Division 9 contest to defeat Aliso Niguel 28-14 and advance to the semifinals on Nov. 16 against the winner of the Palm Desert-San Gorgonio game.

Western (10-2) defeated Jurupa Hills 48-19 in Division 11 action and will play the winner of the Beaumont-Pasadena contest, also on Nov. 16.