WESTMINSTER – Brethren Christian’s star running back found little room to run, its quarterback exited with a potentially season-ending injury, and only one drive led to the end zone, but the Warriors did enough to win their football opener Friday night, holding off Ocean View, 15-7, at Westminster High School.
Brethren Christian, the No. 1 team in the CIF-Southern Section’s Division 10 preseason rankings, struggled to move the ball behind an offensive line featuring three sophomores and a freshman and scored its fewest points since September 2014. The Warriors failed to score more than 40 just once last season, going past 50 five times.
Ocean View’s physical defense made things difficult, and Jordan Leonard, who last year ran for an Orange County-best 2,637 yards – more than 13 yards per carry and 200 per game – was limited to 23 yards on 11 carries, the second-lowest total of his prep career. He had 2 yards on seven rushes heading into the fourth quarter.
Brethren Christian went ahead on its opening drive, with Joey Gutierrez connecting with Dante Sanchez on a 20-yard throw, and the lead was 15 after Joshua Gorrell scooped up an Xavier Salgado fumble in front of the goal line and returned it 99 yards with two minutes to go in the opening quarter.
The Warriors’ passing game was limited after Gutierrez was knocked out of the game just before halftime with a knee injury, but 5-foot-5 Nathan Sagastume directed two drives into the red zone that ended on downs.
