Western players celebrate with the bell in front after Thursday’s victory over Anaheim. (Photos courtesy Victor Baltazar).
Western’s football team team won its second game in a row in the Orange League, defeating Anaheim 56-7 Thursday night in the annual Bell Game at Glover Stadium.
The Pioneers (4-2 overall) get to keep the bell, which goes to the winner of the Western-Anaheim game, for the eighth time in a row.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo:
The game matched up the teams who come from the two oldest schools in Anaheim: Anaheim and Western with the winner keeping the bell for another year. The Bell series started in 1961. The two teams started playing in 1959.
“It is so much fun being a part of The Bell Game,” Western Coach Dan Davidson said Friday. “Sharing this experience with Coach (Lanny) Booher who I respect and admire makes this event more exciting. We both make it an important deal in both communities and this adds to make it an even stronger rivalry. Playing the Bell game is a year around event.
“I have so many alumni people reach out throughout the year telling me stories about their Bell Game experiences. It is a tradition that I am blessed to share with so many people and winning this game brings joy to my guys, school, community, faculty and all of the alumni. I am proud to keep the Bell at Western another year.
Western was led by quarterback Anthony Luna, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, according to Coach Davidson.
Anaheim (3-4, 1-1) was led by quarterback Bryce Manley, who completed 6 of 12 for 32 yards.
Johnny Martinez had a solid game rushing for 67 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns for Western.
Drew Faulkner rushed for 19 yards and a touchdown for the Pioneers, Desmin Joshway-Fairley had three rushes for 10 yards and a touchdown. Michael Alatorre had a touchdown run for the Pioneers.
Alatorre had two catches for 102 yards and Faulkner had five catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Michael Sutton-Shy had three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown for Western.
Gabriel Burgara rushed for 49 yards on four carries and a touchdown for Anaheim.
Arjae Allen had two catches for 18 yards and Kaiden Robins had two catches for 15 yards for Anaheim.
(Statistics provided by Western football).
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