Westminster holds off Segerstrom

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Westminster’s Aaron Garbutt turned the football field into his own personal playground Thursday night.

Garbutt, a senior who has caught the interest of several Pac-10 schools, rushed for 216 yards and had a hand in all five touchdowns (rushing for four and passing for the other).

In the end, it added up to a 33-28 home victory for Westminster (5-3, 2-0) over Segerstrom (5-3, 2-1) at Ocean View High. (Full game stats.)

The victory kept the Lions on track for their fifth consecutive Golden West League title and will also likely shake up the CIF-SS Southern Division rankings. Segerstrom entered ranked third, while Westminster was unranked.

Westminster has remaining league games against Orange and Ocean View.

“He’s one of the best players around,” Westminster coach Ted McMillen said of Garbutt. “He played his heart out. He played through cramps and just made numerous big plays.”

It was a performance that the Lions welcomed especially with the upstart Jaguars looking to end Westminster’s reign atop the league.

“My coach told me about the tradition, every year there is someone out to get us in league,” Garbutt said. “He told me that Segerstrom was that team this year and that I was going to have to pound it (the ball).

“Everybody did it before (me) … it was just my time to shine. I stuck with it. We never gave up, no matter how many times they came back.”

Garbutt opened his scoring by throwing a 4-yard halfback option pass to Kenny Chapple in the second quarter. He later added touchdown runs of 53, 24, 10 and 12 yards, which came with 7:22 remaining.

The Westminster coaching staff moved Garbutt from receiver to running back earlier this month and the shift has definitely paid dividends.

Garbutt has rushed for 680 yards in his past four games (170 yard average).

“Running back is looking good right now,” he said.

Segerstrom quarterback Brian Murriettaconnected with Francisco Partida on a 27-yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 33-28.

Chapple recovered the onside kick attempt and later sealed the victory with a 20-yard pass to Garbutt on a fourth-and-6 play.

• Click here for full game stats.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com