ORANGE LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Western Finally Gets Ball, Victory

Savanna played keep-away for a quarter, but once Western quarterback Brandon Brennan and the Pioneers got the ball, Western was on its way to a 28-16 Orange League victory at Glover Stadium Thursday.

Halfback Dawn Johnson rushed for 127 yards, 112 in the second half, and scored two touchdowns on 20 carries, and Brennan passed for 186 yards and a touchdown to lead Western (4-1-1, 1-0 in league).

But Savanna (5-1, 0-1) gave the Pioneers a scare early.

Savanna’s Barry Michael squibbed the opening kickoff, and the ball bounced off Western’s front-line players before Michael recovered.

Savanna drove 45 yards in seven plays and scored on Daven King’s three-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead with 8 minutes 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Then Michael teed it up again, and tried another onside kick. After a scramble, Savanna’s Charles Shields came out with the ball at the Western 37.

“We wanted to keep their offense off the field,” Savanna Coach Fred DiPalma said. “We started out great.”

Savanna moved the ball to the Western four and faced a third and inches. After King was stopped for no gain on third down, Savanna chose to go for the first down.

On fourth down, Western linebackers Matt Frembling and David Bell stopped Canhhnuy Nguyen, who rushed for 85 yards on 20 carries, short.

“Looking back, I don’t know how much a difference it made not taking the field goal,” DiPalma said. “Western’s a good team, and they made some big plays.”

Western took over, and with the aid of a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Savanna, the Pioneers drove 96 yards in 13 plays to score the tying touchdown.

Brennan, who completed eight of 12 passes with none intercepted, connected with Josh Christensen, who made a twisting catch in the corner of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Christensen caught six passes for 103 yards.

After a Savanna field goal, Western drove 84 yards in four plays, including a 64-yard pass play from Brennan to Jason Covarrubias, to move the Pioneers to the Savanna 19.

Western capped the drive when Marques Robinson scored on a five-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds remaining in the half to give Western a 14-10 lead.

Savanna quarterback Paul Waldrop completed 16 of 23 passes for 150 yards. Rani Kahouch caught six passes for 76 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass from Waldrop late in the fourth quarter.