Orange Rolls to League Title

Good defenses are supposed to stop good offenses, but the football adage was proved false Thursday night.

Orange’s offense scored three times, and that was enough for the Panthers to defeat Westminster, 21-13, to win the Golden West League title. It was Orange’s first title since 1992, which was its last playoff appearance before qualifying last season.

Orange (9-1, 5-0 in league play) secured the victory with defense when Chris Spencer intercepted a pass at the five-yard line with 1 minute 9 seconds left, ending any comeback hopes for Westminster (8-2, 4-1). It was Spencer’s first interception of the season and Orange’s third of the game.

“Everybody said it was their defense against our offense, but we ground out ... a victory,” said third-year Coach Greg Gibson, who inherited a program that had gone 1-29 before he arrived.

James Peni, who rushed 13 times for 56 yards, scored twice on one-yard runs in Orange’s three-pronged, double-wing offense.

But it was Justin Jones and Daniel Chairez who did most of the damage against Westminster, which had given up only 75 points in the first nine games.

Jones carried 21 times for 98 yards and scored on a 19-yard run with 6:08 remaining to provide the final margin. Chairez carried 14 times for 90 yards as Orange gained 248 yards on the ground in 54 carries.

“I’ve been waiting for this for four years,” Jones said. “Freshman year, I always said we were going to turn the school around.”

-- Martin Henderson

Chino 19, Diamond Bar 18 -- Sophomore linebacker Juan Gutierres knocked down Jeff Shubin’s two-point conversion pass with 37 seconds left to preserve a Sierra League victory at Chino High.

Diamond Bar (7-3, 3-2) put itself in position to win after recovering an onside kick with 1:37 left after taking an intentional safety.

Shubin hit Marvin Crosby with a 37-yard pass on a third-and-one play to put the ball at the Chino 36. Shubin avoided a sack two plays later and hit Randy Tyler for a 25-yard touchdown pass to make the score 19-18.

Chino punter Joe Valdez and kicker Durrell Chamorro combined to hinder Diamond Bar’s field position all night. Valdez put all four of his punts inside the Diamond Bar 20-yard line and Chamorro had four touchbacks on kickoffs as well as a 46-yard field goal.

Chino (7-3, 4-1) started five of its 11 possessions at midfield or better but took advantage of the field position to score only 10 points. Shawn Oatis led Chino with 182 yards rushing and two touchdowns in 27 carries.

-- Dan Arritt