Rival Westminster denies Ocean View with playoff spot at stake
There is good reason for why the phrase, “Throw out the records,” tends to go hand in hand with rivalry games.
Ocean View High School and Westminster — two schools separated by just a three-mile drive down Goldenwest Street — renewed their rivalry in the Battle for the Bugle on Friday.
Locked in a defensive struggle to the finish, it was Westminster that defeated Ocean View 12-0 in the teams’ Pac 4 League finale, as the Lions took back the coveted trophy after a three-year drought.
“It feels great,” Westminster coach Steven Anderson said of winning back the trophy. “I told the team that back when we had it for about 14 or 15 years straight, we didn’t bring it out. I didn’t even know what it looked like. I had never held it.
“I never really held it, so I said, ‘Now that they’ve had it for three years, it’s time for my first time holding that Bugle,’ and we’re bringing it home and couldn’t be more proud of these guys in helping me do that.”
Westminster (8-2, 2-1) clinched second place and an automatic berth into the CIF Southern Section playoffs, while Ocean View (3-7, 1-2) saw its playoff hopes dashed by an inability to come away with points in the red zone.
Laguna Beach (9-1, 3-0) wound up as the unchallenged champion of the Pac 4 League after posting a 49-0 win over Godinez (0-10, 0-3) at home on Friday.
It was a one-score game for the duration until Lions quarterback Roman Harris crashed into the end zone from three yards out with 52 seconds remaining.
In a game with limited possessions, the Seahawks might have pulled off the upset if they had been able to take advantage of two trips deep into Westminster territory in the first half.
Sophomore quarterback Frankie Armenta completed all nine of his passes on the opening drive for the Seahawks.
Ocean View got as far as the Westminster 14, but the drive stalled after senior running back Anthony Ramirez was tackled for a six-yard loss on an attempted screen play.
The Seahawks reestablished momentum in the second quarter with a goal-line stand, stopping Ezekiel Cedillo twice on running plays before Harris’ fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Backed up against their own end zone, Ramirez turned a dire situation into a great opportunity for the Seahawks with an 89-yard run to set up first and goal at the Westminster 5.
A holding penalty set the Seahawks back, but after a seven-yard completion to Angel Adame and a five-yard run by Ramirez, Ocean View was just three yards away from pay dirt.
The Westminster defense held firm, denying Ramirez on consecutive plays to force the turnover on downs.
“We accomplished our goal,” Rafael Maldonado, a junior defensive tackle for the Lions, said. “Our goal was to shut them out, keep them at zero, and show them that Westminster football is back and that we’re ready to play them again for the next years coming.”
Westminster broke the scoreless tie coming out of halftime. The Lions engineered a 17-play, 67-yard drive that took 10 minutes 30 seconds off the clock. Joel Quinones capped it off with a 28-yard field goal.
A well-placed punt pinned Ocean View deep at its own 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Maldonado sacked Armenta in the end zone, the safety increasing the Lions’ lead to 5-0 with 10:20 left.
Ocean View got the three-and-out series it needed on defense, but the Seahawks turned the ball over on downs just across midfield on their next possession, which was the last with the game still hanging in the balance.
“It was exciting,” Armenta, who also had an interception on defense, said of playing in the rivalry game. “I knew it was going to be packed and a lot of energy. I knew it was going to be like a war, so it was going to be an even game.”
Senior defensive end Luke Crabtree was one of the few Ocean View players with varsity experience coming into the season. The tight end led the Seahawks’ receivers with two catches for 23 yards, and he also knocked down a pass in the second half to force a punt.
“We went through a lot of growing pains, a lot of life lessons, a lot of learning,” Ocean View coach Jimmy Welker said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t make enough plays when we needed to, but the one thing I’ll never question about these guys is their toughness.”
After the first quarter, Ocean View honored its softball team, which won the CIF Division 5 title during the pandemic.
Pac 4 League
Westminster 12, Ocean View 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Westminster 0 – 0 – 3 – 9 – 12
Ocean View 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
FIRST QUARTER
None.
SECOND QUARTER
None.
THIRD QUARTER
W – Quinones 28 FG, 1:30.
FOURTH QUARTER
W – Safety (Maldonado sack in end zone), 10:20.
W – Harris 3 run (Quinones kick), 0:52.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
W – Cedillo, 12-61.
OV – Ramirez, 12-113.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
W – Harris, 10-22-1, 101.
OV – Armenta, 15-25-1, 66.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
W – Lam, 5-33.
OV – Crabtree, 2-23.
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