PREP FOOTBALL / Saturday Pullout : West Covina, Brown Run Over Katella, 26-13

Junior running back Kevin Brown rushed for 166 yards and scored one touchdown to lead West Covina to a 26-13 victory over Katella in the season opener Friday night at West Covina High.

Brown gave West Covina the lead for good with a 51-yard run with less than a minute to go in the first quarter. Katella grabbed an early 7-0 lead when James Henderson blocked a punt by West Covina’s Terrance Spencer, and Javier Espinoza recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Quarterback Henry Frank scored the Bulldogs’ first touchdown on their next series on a 24-yard run. Espinoza recovered a fumble by Brown at the West Covina 15-yard line late in the first half, but the Bulldogs stopped Katella’s Dustin Gotz on a fourth-and-two play to preserve the the lead going into halftime.

Kevin Burke opened the second half for West Covina with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Greg Wardlaw capped the scoring for West Covina with a five-yard touchdown run with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Quarterback Sal Viramontes scored on a two-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes left in the game. He completed key first-down passes of 16 and 26 yards to Josh Welton prior to scoring the touchdown.

West Covina outgained Katella in total offense, 341 yards to 159. The Bulldogs held Katella to 61 yards in the first half and did not allow the Knights a first down in the third quarter.