Troy Takes Advantage of Mistakes : Prep football: Rancho Alamitos suffers from opening-night jitters as Warriors win, 21-19.

GARDEN GROVE —  Typically slow-starting Rancho Alamitos made some typical first-game mistakes at crucial times. And for the second year in a row, the Vaqueros lost to a slightly more disciplined and more fortunate Troy team.

The final score Thursday night at Garden Grove High was 21-19. Last year, Troy won, 28-24.

“I don’t know what it is, Coach Case starts off slow for some reason,” Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case said.

The ninth-ranked Vaqueros had two touchdowns called back on penalties--one of them a 28-yard run by freshman David Vickers and the other a 12-yard run by junior Leo Kosi. They also pitched the ball to the wrong man on a two-point conversion run that would have tied the score with two minutes 57 seconds left. Vickers was supposed to get the ball out of the stack-I formation, but Mike Hanlyn, the middle man in the formation, intercepted the pitch and was stopped at the one-yard line.

“We had our opportunities, but it seemed like all our mistakes came at crucial times,” Case said.

Troy had its share of opening-game jitters, but it also had something Rancho Alamitos didn’t--the multi-dimensional Larry Montgomery. As a running back, Montgomery ran for 205 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. On defense, he was terror from his outside linebacker spot and might have made the play of the game.

Kosi was headed for a touchdown from his 43 on the last play of the half, but Montgomery ran Kosi down from behind and tackled him nine yards short of the end zone.

“I’m just glad we had him in there on that play,” Troy Coach John Turek said.

Turek was also happy to have Montgomery in his offensive backfield. After gaining only 22 yards on his first six carries, Montgomery broke loose for runs of 15, 40 and 59 on three of his next four carries. The last two runs went for touchdowns on what Turek called his “belly play.”

Montgomery’s second touchdown gave Troy its first lead at 14-10 early in the third quarter. After Rancho’s Nick Ortega kicked his second field goal to make it 14-13, Montgomery scored again on an eight-yard run in which he ran over two Rancho defenders.

“He’s a great football player,” Turek said of his senior back. “The kid plays his tail off.”

Kosi (27 rushes, 158 yards) scored with 2:57 left on a nine-yard run, but Hanlyn’s conversion run failed. The Vaqueros almost got the ball back on Troy’s 40 with 52 seconds left, but the referees never saw Troy punter Steve Muther’s knee hit the ground when he fielded a low punt. “It’s better to be lucky than good,” Turek said with a big grin on his face.