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Westminster Coach Steven Anderson talks to his players after a win Thursday. (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Westminster High School’s football team, coming off a bye week, came out firing Thursday night with a strong first half and went on to defeat Godinez 47-13 in the Pac-4 League opener at Santa Ana Valley.
The Lions (6-2, 1-0) were led by senior quarterback Benny Burns, who threw four touchdown passes and passed for 123 yards, all in the first half. Westminster led 33-0 at halftime.
“I’m really proud of the guys the way they come off the bye week, we usually don’t take bye weeks,” said Westminster Coach Steven Anderson. “For them to come out and execute early is exactly what we asked them to do. When they execute that game plan, we’re very happy with it.
“Benny is a great leader for us and he’s making all the right throws. For a while, it was like everyone was getting one catch, two catches and that’s it, because we’re spreading the ball out so much and focus more on some targets today which is great and we’re ready for a lot of different guys to contribute the rest of league and playoffs.
“A win next week (at home vs. Ocean View) will guarantee us a playoff berth and we’re looking for a Pac-4 League title also, so we have to take care of business the next two weeks.”
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Burns opened the scoring with a 17-yard TD pass to Thong Danh. The two also hooked up on a 12-yard TD pass in the second quarter.
The Lions QB also connected with Ezekiel Cedillo on a 61-yard TD pass. Cedillo also had an 18-yard TD run and Jason Guzman hauled in a 10-yard TD pass on the final play of the first quarter.
“I feel pretty good about it, we need to clean some things up,” Burns said. “We have some really good opponents ahead of us, Ocean View and Laguna (Beach), all the guys played hard, the line made it really, really easy on me and let me sit back there and put it in my receivers’ hands and even my running backs’ hands, so it was nice. It was a really good win for everybody.”
Godinez (3-5, 0-1) struggled with penalties and a turnover which led to a Westminster score in the first half, but started to get untracked in the third quarter.
“We were really inconsistent in the first half and they were rock solid,” said Godinez Coach Aron Kaye. “But they’re always rock solid, I thought we played better in the second half and we had a more consistent effort level and I’m proud of the guys for doing that because it was 33-0 and they could have folded their tents at that point and they didn’t.
“All hats off to them because they came to play and that’s a good football team and Coach Anderson does a super job over there.”
The Grizzlies got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Alexis Jimenez capped a long drive with a 2-yard TD,
Westminster’s back-up QB Edwin Hopkins, who is also a starting lineman, connected with Gabriel Ortega on a 39-yard TD to make it 40-7.
Godinez added another touchdown on a a 11-yard run by quarterback Kevin Contreras in the fourth quarter.
Westminster’s No. 3 QB Jacob Aguilar had the Lions final score on an 8-yard TD run the final seconds.
Anderson, the Lions coach, was also pleased with his team’s defense.
“You always got to start with the guys up front, always holding their gaps, Ezekiel Cedillo is a great two-way stud for us and he’s always been the heart and soul of our team,” Anderson said.
Contreras wound up passing for 125 yards for Godinez.
“He had his best night by far throwing tonight,” Kaye said.
Yahir Ramirez rushed for 51 yards for Godinez.
The Grizzlies, 1-9 year ago, have shown some strides this season and the number of players on the roster has risen.
“It’s fun, we’re competing,” Kaye said. “We have a chance and the last couple of years, through no fault of our own, we just didn’t. It was lack of numbers, lack of strength, now we feel like we’re getting where we need to be in the weight room and numbers wise. We’ve got 85 kids out now (for all the programs).
“Our frosh-soph team is doing really well and we have some kids we’re excited about and we’re excited about our kids coming back.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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