Westminster Wins Opener in Virginia With Its Defense

Ray Smith made sure that the Westminster High School football team’s trip to the East Coast was a successful one. The 6-foot, 240-pound senior linebacker returned a fumble nine yards for a touchdown and helped stifle one of Robert E. Lee’s only scoring threats Thursday night as the Lions scored a 14-0 season-opening victory.

Smith’s touchdown, the Lions’ second, came with 4 minutes 31 seconds remaining in the third period.

Lee quarterback Frank Vollmer tried a pitchout to running back Asa Langford. But the pitch was high and Langford lost the ball, and he was swarmed by Westminster players when he tried to recover it. Smith scooped up the loose ball and scored from the nine.

“I saw the ball in the air, and after that it was like a dream,” Smith said. “I scored a touchdown a couple of years ago on a blocked punt, but all I had to do was fall on it in the end zone. This was my first real touchdown.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Lancers mounted their only threat. Vollmer completed a 21-yard, fourth-down pass to Brian Kriz, giving the Lancers a first down inside the one.

On first down, Smith hit fullback David Forburger at the two. Westminster’s Jim Slagle nearly intercepted Vollmer’s second-down pass, catching the ball with only one foot inbounds. Vollmer threw another incomplete pass on third down, then fumbled on fourth down, and Ray Vanatta recovered for Westminster.

“We thought our defense played great,” said Stan Clark, Westminster co-coach. “We had too many turnovers (four) and penalties (six). You expect mistakes in early games, but not that many. I think all the distraction and travel was reflected in all the mistakes.”

Lee played a good defensive game, but it struggled all game long on offense. The Lancers lost two fumbles, had five penalties and were forced to punt nine times. The margin might have been larger except that punter Kriz was able to get three punts off after snaps went over his head.

The Lions took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when quarterback Bob Elliott threw a short dump pass over the middle to wide-open Van Tunei. The tight end had no problem completing the 54-yard scoring play, and Troy Rossean kicked the first of his two extra points.