Following back-to-back losses to start the year, West Ranch went on the road and secured its first win of the season.
The Wildcats defeated Antelope Valley 23-13 and recorded TJ Yonkers’ first win as the head coach of the West Ranch football program.
“It was good to get the first one out of the way,” Yonkers said. “Obviously, we wish it could have been a little bit cleaner, but I think it was it was a bit of a relief for myself. The kids had a good time, and we’ll take the wins where we can get them. But I think it was good to kind of get the monkey off our back for this year.”
West Ranch (1-2) started the game with Blake Johnson back under center for the first half as the junior is returning from injury that sidelined him the first two weeks of the season.
Johnson, who threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, saw limited snaps on offense as Yonkers wanted to ease him back into the gameplan and get his footing.
“We wanted to kind of ease him back in, so we played him throughout the first half,” Yonkers said. “We got a bit of a lead, and then we put Humza back in for the second half just to keep him kind of in the loop and keep him in things.”
Humza Harsolia, who started the previous two games for West Ranch, relieved Johnson in the second half with the Wildcats leading 20-0 over the Antelopes (0-2) in the third quarter.
But moving forward for the rest of the season, Yonkers expects Johnson to be the starter now that he is healthy.
“We’re going to roll with Blake going forward,” Yonkers said. “He’s back, he’s ready, he’s healthy. Blake will be the guy going forward.”
With six minutes left to go in the third quarter, Jake Nunez kicked a field goal and extended the Wildcats’ lead over Antelope Valley.
And in the closing seconds of the quarter, Bijan Taghilou recorded a sack and recovered a fumble to close out the third.
“Bijan had a good game for us on both sides of the line,” Yonkers said. “He’s a senior who’s been around the program for a while and understands the standards. He finally got a chance to show what he can do, and hopefully that helps him build some momentum for the rest of the year.”
In the fourth quarter, Braylen Hensley intercepted an Antelope Valley pass and gave possession to West Ranch on their own 45-yard line.
“He had an interception, that he ran back and almost got into the end zone, but got tripped up,” Yonkers said. “We’re looking for big years out of those guys, and really for those guys to help us uplift the rest of the team.”
Antelope Valley closed the game with a rushing touchdown from Maddox Caldwell and a passing touchdown from Tre Crotti.
Despite the late scores, it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats held off Antelope Valley for the win.
With the first win under the team’s belt, Yonkers believes the victory’s momentum will carry and show his players what they can achieve.
“I think it’s going to be a good example for us to show the kids,” Yonkers said. “We all gave them the opportunity to see what it looks like when we do things the right way, when all 11 guys are focused on their job, good results can come from it.”
Yonkers and West Ranch play again on Thursday, hosting Thousand Oaks at Valencia High School.
