Western tested, takes league title and bell

ANAHEIM- Since the start of the Orange League schedule, Western has left little doubt as to which team was the top dog was in league.

Entering Friday's game against Anaheim in the annual Battle for the Bell, the Pioneers had outscored their opponents by 158 points in the first four games.

The Pioneers (8-1-1, 5-0) weren't able to run away and hide from the Colonists (8-2, 3-2), but in the end, the road to victory might be sweeter as they rallied from a third-quarter deficit to defeat Anaheim, 22-17, to regain the bell.

Anaheim had snapped a nine-year losing streak with last year's victory.

Western's Ruben Ortega scored the winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with 4:55 to go. Ortega rushed for 124 yards on 21 carries.

"Those guys took it to us (in the first half)," Western coach Toby Howell said. "Our guys have been used to scoring 60 points, and they thought it was just going to happen by showing up and it definitely didn't.

"(At halftime) we talked about getting tough and competing, and to their credit they came back and had a much better second half.

Anaheim took a 14-6 lead into halftime on a 37-yard touchdown run from Mike Reyes, who carried the workload in place of Matt Contreras, who was held out because of a slight concussion. Reyes finished with 105 yards.

Western tied the score on 87-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion run from Ortega with 10:38 remaining in the game.

Ramon Mejia gave Anaheim the lead, 17-14, on a 46-yard field goal with 7:59 remaining to set the stage for the Western's winning drive.

"This feels real good," Ortega said after the postgame celebration in the gymnasium. "We came back and took it back."

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com