Westminster gets tricky in victory
WESTMINSTER — With his offense stagnant for most of the first half, Westminster coach Ted McMillen decided to break out a trick play, a reverse to wide receiver Tarik Rayford.
It worked, as Rayford went 44 yards for a touchdown, sparking Westminster to a 31-3 victory over Orange in its Golden West League finale Thursday night at Westminster High.
“We had to get it going,” McMillen said. “We practice those plays, like everybody does. They came in handy tonight.”
McMillen used more trickery on the first possession of the third quarter. Westminster (6-4, 4-1) scored on a 28-yard halfback pass from Carlos Ancona to Rayford on fourth-and-5.
Rayford finished with 199 yards of total offense, including 140 yards rushing on seven carries, including his two touchdowns.
Equally impressive was the Westminster defense, which forced four turnovers, had four sacks and limited Orange (3-7, 2-3) to 120 yards of total offense.
Most of that production came on Orange’s first drive, a 14-play, 62-yard march that ended with Ivan Guerrero’s 30-yard field goal and took 8:44 seconds off the clock.
Orange running back Axel Sanchez carried the ball six times on the drive and finished the game with 74 yards.
