Ocean View shuts out Rancho Alamitos to clinch Sigma League title (2026)

Ocean View's Trevor Vaivao (2) runs in for a touchdown against Rancho Alamitos in a Sigma League football game on Friday.

By Scott FrenchSpecial Contributor

Nov. 2, 2026 12:50 PM PT

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Ocean View’s march to the Sigma League football championship was built over time, with patience and vision. This glorious present is largely about the past.

The Seahawks claimed the title Friday night with an unexpectedly dominant triumph over previously perfect Rancho Alamitos, riding star running back Trevor Vaivao and a shut-down defense to a 33-0 rout that was over before the first quarter was done.

Vaivao rushed for 214 yards and two touchdowns, do-everything back and receiver Gregory Gates totaled 115 yards and a score, and both figured heavily in limiting the visiting Vaqueros to 32 rushing yards all night and 36 total yards before Ocean View’s last touchdown with four and a half minutes to go in the third quarter.

Ocean View’s Gregory Gates (3) and Aidan Bond (44) make a tackle against Rancho Alamitos in a Sigma League football game on Friday.

(James Carbone)

Ocean View (9-1, 5-0 in the Sigma League) did so with a veteran side: 19 juniors and seniors who have been varsity contributors since they were freshmen, including seniors Gates, fullback and linebacker Aidan Bond, running back/defensive back Dylan Morales, quarterback Isaac Young and lineman Kelvin Leal.

“We’ve been working on this for four years,” said Ocean View coach Daniel Hernandez, who took charge in 2023 and guided Ocean View to its first playoff victory in a dozen years. “Those guys came with me as freshmen, and they’ve all had some setbacks and some things go wrong in their high school careers. But they stuck it out, and I’m proud of where they’re at.

“The kids played tough. I think we came out the gate with the right mentality.”

(James Carbone)

Rancho Alamitos (9-1, 4-1), seeking its seventh league title in 10 years, had conceded a touchdown or less in five wins, no more than 14 points in any game.

“They outplayed us, they outcoached us. End of conversation,” Rancho Alamitos coach Mike Enright said. “They kicked our [butt]. Good job by them.”

It’s the Seahawks’ first outright, full-season league title and their first championship since the coronavirus delayed and shortened spring 2021 season, when they beat Laguna Beach and, by a point in the decisive game, Westminster to win the Pac 4 League. The program shared the 2018 Pac 4 championship with Laguna Beach and Western — all three with 2-1 records — and in 1989 was Sunset League co-champion with Edison.

Ocean View’s Gregory Gates (3) catches the ball in the end zone for a touchdown against Rancho Alamitos in a Sigma League football game on Friday.

(James Carbone)

Hernandez paid homage to Luis Nuñez, who as Ocean View’s head coach from 2012 through that spring 2021 campaign posted a 55-43 record, 20-8 with the two titles in his last three seasons.

“I texted him this morning,” said Hernandez, who had a stint on Nuñez’s staff, alongside defensive coordinators Chris Estrada and Peter Kim, before coaching seven years at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul. “I was like, ‘Hey, man, we’re going to build on the legacy that you set.’ That’s what we’re doing here, and that’s what I take it as. Luis Nuñez set the foundation. I’m just trying to keep building on it.”

Ocean View scored the first four times it had the ball, scoring 19 first-quarter points en route to a 26-0 halftime lead — and again in its initial second-half drive — while forcing the Vaqueros into four three-and-outs in their first five possessions. One of them, technically, was a three-and-pick, Vaivao’s interception inside the Rancho Alamitos 40-yard line leading to Young’s 26-yard end-zone pass to an open Gates to make it 19-0.

(James Carbone)

“Our coach taught us today: all gas pedal, no brake,” Vaivao said. “That’s why we don’t let off. That’s all we know. Just all gas and no brakes.”

Vaivao, who has surpassed 200 rushing yards three times en route to 1,513 yards and 18 touchdowns, kicked the spree off with his long sweep from the 25-yard line, following Bond’s lead block, just 21 seconds into the game. He called it a “perfect-executed play.”

Morales’ 5-yard run finished the second drive, built on two Vaivao gains: a 32-yard spring to the Vaqueros’ 20 and a fourth-and-two wildcat gain inside the 10. Young’s 3-yard keeper pushed the lead to four touchdowns, and Vaivao scored his second after Gates’ leaping grab among three defenders at the 6 on a fourth-and-15 heave from Young.

(James Carbone)

Rancho Alamitos, missing pivotal receiver and safety Jorge Ayala to injury, drove inside the Seahawks’ 10 twice after that, but both drives ended in interceptions, by freshman Kye Swancy and senior Ben Savage. Swancy, and Vaivao, also had sacks.

Winning the championship was a thrill, of course.

“It means everything,” Gates said. “Five-and-oh, undefeated in league? It’s the first time in history. It’s really special, one for the record book. It’s just really special to feel.”

(James Carbone)

Hernandez says it’s not enough.

“For a long time, league titles were what these boys shot for on this campus, and I want us to shoot for more,” he said. “I’ve been to the CIF finals [as a St. Paul offensive coordinator and with La Mirada in basketball]. I’ve been to the semifinals three times. I know what it takes to get there. I think these kids have a shot, whatever division they put us in, because we play hard. If we can run the ball, we’ve got a shot ...

“It’s a new game. We’ve got to take this opportunity and really embrace it and enjoy it. And to make sure we take the opportunity to get back to work, because it’s winning-you’re-in and losing-you-go-home, now.”

The Seahawks’ postseason path begins Friday at Ocean League champion Lawndale (9-1), the top seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 9 football playoffs.