The West Ranch Wildcats football team wasn’t happy after Thursday’s victory over Antelope Valley.
Despite a 36-14 win at Paul A. Priesz Stadium at Valencia High School, senior running back Luke DePerno said the Wildcats (2-1) need to “lock in” moving forward after leaving multiple points on the field against the Antelopes (0-3).
DePerno led the way for the Wildcats with 182 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, two of them coming in less than three minutes in the second quarter.
“It felt great after coming out last week with zero touchdowns, but, you know, I think our team could have played a lot better,” DePerno said.
The Wildcats got off to a hot start after a blocked punt at the West Ranch 15-yard line early in the first quarter led to junior Max Piccolino recovering the ball for a touchdown.
“I see it like start rolling to the sideline, I’m like, ‘There’s no one else here. I’m the only one,’” Piccolino said. “So, I go up – I’m so glad I didn’t miss the scoop, that would have been so embarrassing – but I got the scoop, picked it up and almost got hawked down, too, just took it and scored.
“That was a nice little surprise to start the game off there. So, I definitely enjoyed that, that’s for sure.”
The Wildcats got their second touchdown when junior quarterback Cooper Jackson hit senior Maddux Lomeli from 25 yards out, patiently waiting in the pocket before stepping up and delivering a strike to his receiver.
That would be the only touchdown that Jackson threw as he finished with 70 yards on 8-of-22 passing. He also threw one interception on a deep ball to the end zone, but the Wildcats were able to keep the Antelopes from converting on the next drive.
“I thought Cooper had some good throws,” Wildcats head coach Chris Varner said. “We had some drops. You know, with some patchwork on the line there, there’s a little bit of pressure, but, you know, he’s getting better each week.”
Varner added that a couple of injuries on the offensive line led to some backups having to be tossed out there.
Leading 27-0 at the half, the Wildcats looked like they would be finishing things off early when the Antelopes had a snap go out of the back of the end zone for a safety to start the third quarter. But the ensuing drive ended with a punt, and West Ranch seemed to stall from that point on.
After a couple of touchdowns from Antelope Valley running back Gavin Houston in the fourth, DePerno responded with a 42-yard run to seal the victory with just over a minute to go in the game.
“That’s obviously a nice weapon to have,” Varner said.
Houston finished with 137 yards on 26 carries. Quarterback Rayshawn Hawkins threw for 55 yards and ran for 61.
West Ranch saw just three players catch passes. Senior Andrew Hamilton caught three for 22 yards and senior Gabe Cotti had two for 23 yards. Lomeli had just the one catch for a touchdown.
Senior Kyler Garrity looked to have scored on the second play of the second half when he grabbed an interception, but the play was negated for pass interference.
Senior Nathan Erzrumly had the Wildcats’ lone interception of the night in the second quarter.
The Wildcats were given good starting field position on many of their drives, but penalties and a couple of dropped passes saw them unable to use that momentum to their advantage.
The two teams combined for 22 penalties.
“When you get in games like this, sometimes the penalties get the best of you,” Varner said. “It’s all things that we can work on and get better at.”
West Ranch goes back on the road next when the Wildcats travel to Thousand Oaks to take on the Lancers (1-1), who are set to face the Agoura Chargers (2-0) on Friday.
DePerno said he’s looking for more intensity leading up to that as the Wildcats get ready for what he thinks is a tougher test.
“I think we came in this week not taking this team too seriously, like we just thought we’re gonna get away with the win, and that’s why things turned out how they did,” DePerno said.
Antelope Valley has a road matchup next week with the Knight Hawks (0-1), who are set to play the Heritage Patriots on Friday.
