The run game, solid tackling and a ferocious pass rush lifted Golden Valley Grizzlies football to victory in its season opener against the Westlake Warriors.
Golden Valley never trailed in the contest, which ended 19-14, as the team was ready for nearly every Westlake blow.
The Grizzlies jumped early thanks to rushing touchdowns from Jamison Torres and Anthony Seragusa. Torres is the team’s top receiver and safety but coach Dan Kelley found another position for his senior to make an impact.
“Jamison, he runs pretty low, and he runs hard, he’s a football player,” Kelley said. “He caught the ball too at receiver today. He never came out of the game. He played on offense and defense. Then he walked out of here looking like he was ready to go to a party.”
Torres punched in another score in the third quarter to take a 19-7 lead.
The Golden Valley defense showed up from the jump and finished the night with five sacks.
Westlake was inches away from stealing momentum after the team hit a Hail Mary to get within one score late in the fourth quarter. The Warriors took advantage of a few missed tackles and entered the end zone for the second score of the season on a long bomb.
“We gotta make teams work the ball down the field,” Kelley said. “We can’t give up a long touchdown. It was a game all the way to the freaking last play. It was a heavyweight bout tonight and we came out on top.”
The Grizzlies missed a one-point conversion and failed on a two-point conversion but special teams came up clutch with an onside kick recovery with two minutes left in the game that sealed the deal.
Quarterback Brandon Contreras played well for the Grizzlies and will likely get more opportunities soon as Kelley aims to prepare his squad for tougher defensive fronts.
“We’re not one-dimensional, but we need to work harder on our base offense,” Kelley said. “We’re gonna run into some teams that we’re not gonna be able to power the ball. Our offensive line, they got off the ball and they move bodies out of the way. They played physical. The kids are going to be sore tonight.”
The Grizzlies had a handful of penalties most would expect in a week zero matchup but Kelley knows his group can keep the turf yellow-flag free.
“The kids played well, played physical and they flew around,” Kelley said. “They had fun, sometimes too much fun. We’ll need to work on our penalties. It was a big game for Golden Valley.”
The Warriors will look to rebound at home in a Friday night matchup with Agoura while the Grizzlies now head into a short week as the team heads to Antelope Valley on Thursday.
“It’s a short week for us. We play on Thursday,” Kelley said. “We’re gonna have three days to prepare and play a real physical football game. Monday is gonna be a big practice for us.”
