PREP FOOTBALL : Westminster Regains Its Form, Defeats Irvine, 32-0

Only a week ago, Westminster High School was sitting atop the high school football world with a No. 1 ranking, only to come crashing down after a 14-14 tie with Valencia.

On Thursday night, the Lions returned to form by scoring in every quarter to gain a 32-0 nonleague victory over Irvine in front of 1,800 fans at Irvine High.

The Lions had been chosen as the top-ranked team in both the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. preseason poll and the Southern Section’s Big Five Conference poll. Westminster was history after one game, but at least one coach was glad to see the No. 1 tag vanish.

“The kids were scared to death of their No. 1 ranking,” said Jack Bowman, the Lions’ co-coach. “They were tentative against Valencia. Tonight, we played some Westminster football.”

Which meant the Lions were growling on both sides of the line. Linebackers Mark Smith, Ray Smith and Todd Weaver and end Jim Rubalcava helped the defense limit Irvine to only 34 yards rushing and 66 yards passing.

Offensively, the Lions piled up 209 yards rushing. Tailback Corey Dickson scored 3 touchdowns and finished with 84 yards in 13 carries. Quarterback Mike Austin completed 8 of 11 pass attempts for 108 yards.

“I was impressed,” said Terry Henigan, Irvine’s coach. “They were too good for us. But I’m glad we played them. It will help us get ready for the South Coast League by playing a good, physical team like Westminster.”

The Lions gave an early indication of what was to come by scoring on their first two possessions. Westminster took advantage of two poor punts by Irvine’s Brian Brocoff to gain good field position.

Dickson scored 3 touchdowns for the Lions in the first half and had 59 yards in 9 carries at halftime. The rout continued in the third quarter and then Westminster’s co-coaches, Jim O’Hara and Bowman, began substituting.

O’Hara’s son, Brian, finished the scoring in the final quarter when he raced 57 yards on a keeper for a touchdown.

“I thought all three of our linebackers played well and our secondary drilled people,” Bowman said.

The most impressive player for Irvine was George Koutures, who came close to breaking away for a touchdown on three kickoff returns. But then Koutures had plenty of practice against high-scoring Westminster.