ROUNDUP : Westlake Ends Season With a Whimper as Muir Prevails, 52-13

Muir High of Pasadena opened defense of its Southern Section Division II co-championship with a convincing 52-13 rout of Westlake in a first-round playoff game Friday night at Pasadena City College.

Muir, which tied Santa Barbara in last year’s divisional final, had 462 yards in total offense and 19 first downs against a porous Westlake defense, which allowed 130 points in its last three games of the season.

Westlake (8-2-1) started the season with eight wins but managed only a tie and two losses in its final three games.

Muir (9-3), the second-place team from the Pacific League, was led by sophomore tailback Saladin McCullough, who scored three touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards. Junior fullback Linza Williams scored twice and rushed for 113 yards, and senior quarterback Sedrick Thomas passed for two touchdowns and accounted for 191 yards in total offense. He completed seven of nine passes for 130 yards.

“We didn’t expect to beat them this bad but once we saw that we could move the ball on offense, we didn’t let up,” Thomas said.

In the first half, Muir had problems stopping Westlake’s offense as the Warriors had nine first downs. However, big plays by linebacker Damon Danneker, who had two interceptions and forced a third, prevented Westlake from doing much scoring.

Westlake scored on the game’s first play from scrimmage on an 80-yard double-pass play from Seamus Gibbons, who caught a screen pass behind the line from quarterback Todd Preston, to a wide-open Erik Holcomb.

After forcing Muir to punt, the Warriors had a chance to extend their lead but a Preston pass was intercepted by Danneker. Muir needed only three plays to drive 35 yards to tie the score on a three-yard run by McCullough.

After a Westlake fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Muir again needed only three plays when Williams capped a 43-yard drive with a 12-yard run to give the Mustangs a 14-7 lead.

Danneker stopped Westlake on its next possession when he forced Preston to throw an interception to Shelton Malone at the Muir 30-yard line. McCullough then finished off a six-play Muir drive with a 19-yard run for his second touchdown of the game.

After a 21-yard Westlake touchdown pass from Preston to Gibbons, Muir scored again when McCullough glided over from a yard to finish a 10-play, 67 yard drive.

For Preston, who passed for 2,198 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, Muir’s defensive backfield play was a key.

“We were pressing to make the big plays once we got behind,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “We passed the ball effectively at times and then we stalled. You just can’t do that against a good team.”