Arthur Paces Westminster Past La Quinta

Erick Arthur didn’t let a fumble on his first carry of the game spoil his debut at running back Saturday night.

He made up for it by rushing for 212 yards in 22 carries and scoring four touchdowns to lead Westminster past La Quinta, 42-14, in a nonleague football game at Bolsa Grande High.

Arthur, who was a receiver last season, lost the ball on his first carry when Ben Fredrickson nailed him in the backfield on Westminster’s 11-yard line. A play later, Hai Duyen Nguyen ran around the right side to give La Quinta a 6-0 lead.

Westminster was able to answer with a 14-play, 83-yard drive that was capped by Arthur’s seven-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.

Arthur then punctuated a 10-play drive with a four-yard burst up the middle to make it 13-6. After La Quinta was stopped on fourth down on its 40, Arthur quickly made the Aztecs pay with a 40-yard touchdown run.

La Quinta kept it close in the first half after Nguyen scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 1:13 remaining. It was followed by a fake kick by holder Justin Almazan, who passed the two-point conversion to 327-pound fullback Missiona Fa’amausili, cutting the lead to 20-14.

La Quinta opened the second half by marching into Westminster territory, but Nguyen’s 39-yard touchdown run was nullified by an illegal-motion penalty. The drive was kept alive by a successful fake punt, but it produced no points when Almazan’s 30-yard field-goal attempt was blocked.

Two plays later, Arthur broke loose for a 73-yard touchdown run, giving the Lions a 28-14 lead.