Western Had No Reason to Worry

Western Coach Toby Howell was afraid Savanna would bust a big play with its potent running back tandem or spend all night “pounding it down our throat” in Thursday’s Orange League opener.

Turned out that Western did the busting, and the pounding.

His defense was pretty good, too.

Western rushed for 251 yards, passed for 183, and posted a 28-0 victory over visiting Savanna in front of about 1,500.

Savanna, which picked up a forfeit victory from Villa Park this week, dropped to 5-1, 0-1 in league. Western (5-1, 1-0) plays league favorite Brea Olinda next week, and should go in with a heady sense of self-esteem.

“We played some average [nonleague] teams, but this should let us know we can play with some good football teams, which I consider Savanna,” Howell said.

Western’s defense gave a strong performance. Linebackers Dave Mancha and Dawayne Alexander cleaned up the running game as the front of John Bower, Jeremiah Goyena and Ivan Ramirez “did a good job of taking out [the offensive linemen’s] legs,” Howell said.

They contained the tandem of Jason Brown, the county’s sixth-leading rusher (8.2 yards per carry), and Chris Hutton (14 carries, 40 yards), who was averaging 6.2. Brown finished with 20 carries for 164 yards, but 59 came on one play in which Will Ruffin chased him down from behind to prevent a score.

That was indicative of Savanna’s night. Some momentum swung the Rebels’ way, and then they couldn’t cash in.

Same thing happened in the second quarter. Trailing, 7-0, Savanna drove to the 16-yard line, but Bower stopped fullback Josh Cunningham on fourth-and-one at the 16.

The Pioneers took over and scored on Jason Baughman’s 25-yard completion to Jon Wittman. It was the game’s decisive swing.

“We came up short every single time,” Savanna Coach Fred Di Palma said. “We didn’t make plays and we tackled poorly.”

Savanna gained 246 yards, 213 rushing, while Western gained 434. Trevell Jackson rushed 21 times for 132 yards, and Jamiah Williamson rushed eight times for 103 yards and two touchdowns, a 53-yarder on the fourth play of the game, and a 17-yard score near the end.

Baughman, completing only 49% of his passes this year, connected on eight of 10 passes for 183 yards.