DOWNEY – Things looked good early on for Western when it scored on a 40-yard trick play to take a six-point lead over Warren midway through the first quarter Friday.
But Warren scored the game’s final 52 points to rout Western, 52-6, in a nonleague game at Warren.
If the blowout loss didn’t sting first-year Western coach Dan Davidson enough, the Bears throwing the ball late in the fourth quarter with a 45-6 lead and a running clock did.
While Davidson wasn’t openly critical of Warren coach Raul Lara’s play-calling, he was obviously not amused.
“We have ourselves to blame, because if they’re throwing the ball late, it’s our jobs to cover their guys,” Davidson said. “We blew assignments and that’s on us. Coach Lara can answer for why he made those calls, but we need to make stops.”
Quarterback Jordan Yancy threw for three touchdowns for Warren (2-2), including a 10-yard strike to Joaquin Guerrero with 4:59 to play for the Bears’ final score.
Western (1-3) scored when quarterback Nick Zarate hit Brandon Olvera on a 10-yard pass. Olvera lateraled to Don Anderson, who took the ball the final 30 yards for the TD.
Zarate finished 7 of 19 for 103 yards, including the score and Warren’s Mason Marquez picked off Zarate in the second half.
Zarate led the Pioneers with 36 yards on 10 carries and Olvera had three catches for 49 yards for a Western team that faces powerhouse Buena Park next week.
“It’s not going to get an easier, but we’re going to continue to work hard,” Davidson said. “I did think our offensive line improved today and our block assignments were better.”
Darnay Harris’ 71-yard touchdown run with 4:47 to play in the first quarter and the two-point conversion gave the Bears an 8-6 lead it would not relinquish.
