Western Gets First Victory After an Unexpected Wait

Spectators who arrived early got to watch players from Western and Rancho Alamitos go through pregame drills. Of course, if they showed up 1 1/2 hours later, they would have seen the same thing.

At 7 p.m. Western’s Chris Jackson hurt his hip returning the opening kickoff of the Pioneers’ 54-8 nonleague victory, and play didn’t resume again until 8:45.

There was a 25-minute delay waiting for an ambulance to arrive at Bolsa Grande High for Jackson, and the rest of the time was spent waiting for a doctor.

Under Garden Grove League rules, games can’t be played until a doctor is on the sideline. The injury to Jackson made the lack of a doctor obvious. Referee Brian Brennan said the game could not resume until a doctor arrived.

Cell phones started buzzing and it was discovered that the same doctor had been accidentally assigned to two games. Word came that a doctor was on the way and the players started to warm up again.

The 50-50 drawing, usually held at the start of the third quarter, was held just before Western had a first down at its 40 after Jackson’s 35-yard return.

Quarterback Mike Hicks faked a handoff and the Rancho Alamitos defense, excited after such a long delay, rushed toward the line leaving Jon Wittman wide open for a 60-yard pass play for a touchdown.

It was the first of five first-half touchdowns for Western. Wittman and Hicks combined for a 33-yard touchdown with 1:23 left in the half to put Western up 34-0.

Hicks also had a 17-yard scoring pass to Jeff LaMendola and Jamiah Williamson added touchdown runs from 25 yards and one yard out.

The officials started the clock at each change of possession instead of waiting for the ball to be snapped. The game ended at 10:30.

Staff writer Daniel Arreola contributed to this story.