By Matt Lechuga
For The Signal
Last season, West Ranch relied heavily on the 2-way impacts of Jovan and Ryan Camacho.
On Friday, the Wildcats had a new pair of senior dual-threat playmakers in Jackson Reyes and Brandon Wyre who, along with a monster game from junior quarterback Walker Eget, led West Ranch to a 55-10 win over visiting Granada Hills Charter at Valencia High School.
Wyre and Eget set the tone on the Wildcats’ first offensive play, hooking up on an 85-yard go route down the right sideline to give West Ranch a quick 7-0 lead. Things snowballed from there when Reyes picked off a Highlander pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, giving the Wildcats an early 13-0 lead after a missed extra point.
“[The 85-yard touchdown] really sets the tone that we’re here to play; we’re coming strong out the gates firing and we don’t plan on looking back,” Wyre said. “We plan on scoring each and every time we touch the ball and that play showed that.”
Eget sat out the second half but his stat line looked like that of someone that played all four quarters. He finished with 330 yards and five touchdowns through the air to four different receivers.
Up with a comfortable 13-0 lead, Eget came out and hit junior receiver Nicholas Kohl for a 34-yard score. It was the first of two touchdown connections the pair would have in the game. The second came in the second quarter on a receiver screen that went 65 yards.
“Eget has been doing a great job for us at quarterback and we have a slew of receivers that got some touches tonight so it was great for them,” said West Ranch head coach Chris Varner. “We assumed what they were going to do was what they did against Saugus, so we were ready for that. Our game plan on both sides of the ball was effective; the defense played great and the offense was right there.”
West Ranch (2-0 overall) spent all week preparing for a heavy dose of the run game, changing their defensive scheme to bring the secondary and linebackers closer to the line of scrimmage to help.
Hart football sees lead slip away, falls to Muir in OT
The change in scheme worked as the Wildcats were able to stuff the Granada Hills running game and pressure the Highlanders into three turnovers, two interceptions returned for touchdowns by Reyes and Wyre and a fumble recovery by Derek Miranda.
The Highlanders’ (0-2 overall) first points came on a West Ranch safety after the center snapped the ball out the back of the Wildcats’ endzone and their only score came on an 8-yard rush from Eric Chi with 27 seconds left in the game.
“It always feels good to get a win,” said Reyes. “Now we’re preparing for next week, we have a big game against Antelope Valley coming up so that’s what we’re looking at right now.”
West Ranch will look to keep things rolling against an Antelope Valley team coming off a 41-0 loss to Camarillo Friday night.
