Coming off a touchdown at the buzzer in the first half, which brought West Ranch to within seven points of Canyon, Wildcats coach Chris Varner put forth a proposition for his team.
“I sat them down on the turf at halftime and told them, ‘Let’s go make history,” he said.
Varner was referencing West Ranch’s search for their first 5-0 start in school history.
The search is over.
Weston Eget’s 8-yard rushing touchdown with six seconds left in the first half set off a scoring spree of five unanswered touchdowns for the Wildcats in a 35-14 win over the Cowboys in each team’s Foothill League opener.
“That touchdown was a game changer,” said Eget, who was filling in for an injured Colton Mitchell. “Everyone rallied behind it and it changed the entire game around.”
“And it got us that momentum heading into the second half.”
It certainly did.
After forcing a Cowboys three-and-out to open the half, Eget tallied another rushing score, scoring from six yards to tie the game at 14-14.
LeRon Huff powered in the go-ahead score from one yard out following another turnover on downs from Canyon. Ryan Camacho set up the score with a 70-yard run. Camacho led West Ranch with 128 yards on the ground.
“We just realized we had to play West Ranch football,” said Huff, who had 102 yards on 18 carries. “We just kept grounding and pounding the ball into the end zone.”
Canyon attempted a fake punt from its own 36 on its next drive but was unsuccessful. The Wildcats capitalized the ensuing possession with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Eget to Kuan Glasgow.
Eget finished out the scoring with a 10-yard pass to Jovan Camacho midway through the fourth quarter. The junior completed 15 of 29 passes for 142 yards to go with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions.
“We had a really good quarterback competition, so we were confident if Colton were to go down,” Varner said. “Great game for Weston, though. He trusted in the game plan and got it done.”
The Cowboys were in full control early on, scoring on a 7-yard rush from Ryan Valdes on their first possession following a Brandon Wilson fumble recovery. Valdes ended with 135 yards on 25 carries.
Henry Vara then picked off an Eget pass but the Cowboys wouldn’t score again on the night after Shawn Gallagher punched it from eight yards out early in the second quarter.
“We came out firing in that first quarter with the 14 points but after that it just brutal,” said Canyon coach Rich Gutierrez. “We couldn’t move the ball when we needed to, couldn’t get stops when we needed to, nothing was going our way.
The Wildcats continue league play next Friday against Saugus while the Canyon is set to host Hart.
