Westminster Scores Second Upset by Edging Pacifica

If Westminster keeps upsetting its ranked opponents, one of these days the Lions might find themselves a respected team.

Last week, the Lions edged highly-regarded Valencia in their season opener by a single point.

Friday at Westminster, the Lions upset Pacifica, 10-3, in a defensive struggle that marked the last time these schools are scheduled to meet for some time.

Westminster quarterback Steve Gulley capped an 8-play, 78-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tailback Dave Shelley to break a 3-3 deadlock and give the Lions the lead with 20 seconds left.

Pacifica, ranked fourth in the Orange County Sportswriters Assn. poll, could manage only a field goal against a stubborn, hard-hitting Westminster defense that never allowed the Mariners’ vaunted running attack to get untracked.

The Lions, meanwhile, relied heavily upon the arm of Gulley, who suffered an ankle injury early in the first half and was taken to the hospital for precautionary X-rays. The ankle proved sound and Gulley returned to the game midway through the third quarter and directed his team to the win.

“We looked very sloppy offensively,” Westminster co-head coach Jim O’Hara said. “When Gulley went down, we were afraid he might be out for good. We were very pleased with our defense, though. We’ve made vast improvement there.”

Westminster opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 25-yard field goal by Rob Farrington. The Lions had moved the ball from their own 45-yard line to the Pacifica 8 using all running plays, but the drive stalled there and the Lions settled for three points.

The Mariners answered that with a field goal of their own late in the second quarter and the teams went into halftime tied 3-3.

The second half was dominated by the Lions, who opened up the third quarter with a 20-play drive from their own 30 to Pacifica’s 2, where they turned the ball over on downs after failing to score on four tries from inside the 10.

Pacifica ran only four plays in the entire quarter and its defense eventually tired.

The winning drive began with just 2:07 left and the Lions with the ball on their own 22-yard line. Gulley hit flanker Danny Saldana with a 38-yard pass to put the ball into Pacifica territory and two plays later, a 16-yard run by Shelley put the bal on Pacifica’s 24.

Shelley had been an effective receiver for Westminster, catching 5 passes for 51 yards in all. Oddly enough, all of his pass receptions came on the same play, one in which he slipped out of the backfield and into the right flat.

After three more Gulley passes had put the Lions on the 5, Gulley found Shelley open on that same pass for the touchdown and the game was Westminster’s.

“We kept going to it as long as it was open,” O’Hara said.

Unfortunately for Pacifica, it was open at the goal line and the Mariners lost a game in which their defense otherwise played exceptionally well. That, it seems, is part of the reason why the Lions are no longer scheduling the Mariners.

“It’s been a good rivalry,” O’Hara said. “But we’re dropping them mostly because we don’t see that defensive formation again all year so it really doesn’t help us prepare for our league season.”