PREP FOOTBALL : San Jose Knows Way to Beat Westminster

Long-time followers of Long Beach Wilson High School’s football teams have compared current quarterback Bobby San Jose to one of its most famous alumnus, Angel second baseman Bobby Grich.

They point to similarities in football and baseball. Both were three-sport stars, and both exceled at quarterback.

It should come as no surprise that San Jose has the Bruins off to their best start since 1966 when Grich was quarterback, following Wilson’s 14-11 victory over Westminster Thursday night at Stephens Field in Long Beach.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Bruins.

“I imagine everybody dares to think they’ll go undefeated, but then your wife tells you to forget about it,” said Al Taylor, second-year Bruin coach.

San Jose, a 6-foot 2-inch senior who recruiters say will play strong safety, wide receiver or perhaps quarterback in college, passed for 124 yards and scored a touchdown as the Bruins held off a late Westminster charge.

Westminster lost its second straight game and enters Sunset League play next week against favored Edison with a 3-2 record. The Lions had upset Valencia, Pacifica and El Toro to open the season, but they have lost their momentum at the wrong time of the season.

“We made a million mistakes, and we’re going to have to play better football if we hope to win in our league,” co-coach Jack Bowman said. “The kids played hard, but we had some screw-ups on our timeouts and ran out of time in the end.”

Wilson had opened a 14-0 lead in the first half, but the Lions cut the deficit to 14-11 with Todd Weaver’s 26-yard field goal on the last play of the half and then a 15-yard run by Dean Eddy after a lateral from Mike Cover, who had intercepted a San Jose screen pass with one second remaining in the third quarter.

Westminster outplayed the Bruins in the fourth quarter, shutting off San Jose and shutting down the Bruin running game. But the Lions’ only offensive drive in the final quarter didn’t come until 1:21 remained to play, and it didn’t help that they had already utilized all of their timeouts.

The Lions managed to move from their 21-yard line to midfield behind the passing of quarterback Mike Austin, but Austin’s final pass was intercepted by Bruin cornerback Tim Hood to end the game.

“We could have used at least one timeout on that final drive, and then who knows what might have happened,” Bowman said. “We ran out of time, but give Wilson the credit. San Jose is a super athlete.”

San Jose gave the Lions an early indication of what to expect when he lined up for a punt late in the first quarter. Instead of punting, he was off and running, gaining 20 yards for a first down and setting up the Bruins’ first touchdown.

“I called a fake from the sideline,” Bowman said. “I knew they were going to do that (fake the punt), but we couldn’t stop him.”

San Jose’s 27-yard pass to Bret Barnes set up Wilson’s second touchdown for a 14-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the half.

While the Lions’ momentum may have disappeared, they should get a big boost next week when quarterback Steve Gulley returns. Gulley injured his leg against Pacifica three weeks ago, but Bowman said he would start against Edison.