The 2019 season has started similar to the 2018 one for the West Ranch Wildcats: a blow out win over Nordhoff to begin the campaign 1-0.

It wasn’t the cleanest game. A ton of penalties and a couple head-scratching mistakes. But the Wildcats did exactly what they were supposed to do Friday night at home, and that’s overwhelm an inferior opponent by a wide margin.

They were quite successful in that regard.

Three passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns and an interception return for touchdown to cap a stylish 55 points, as the Wildcats forced Nordhoff into suffering a long ride home.

Walker Eget was sharp right out of the gate, going 3-for-4 with a beautiful 23 yard touchdown pass to Zach Van bennekum on the opening drive. The Rangers would answer with a nice drive of their own, converting on both a 3rd and 4th down to tie the game at 7-7 early in the first quarter.

The Wildcats struck quickly on the next drive with a double move put on by Nicholas Kohl down the right sideline and Eget dropping it in nicely for the 72 yard score. West Ranch would take a 20-7 halftime lead as back-to-back pre snap penalties stalled a Nordhoff drive in the red zone just before the break. That ended the biggest threat the Rangers posed for the rest of the evening.

West Ranch did have some lulls in the second half, however, as Eget threw a bad interception in the red zone (his second of the game). Once Nordhoff was forced to become one dimensional, the Wildcats pass rush feasted on quarterback Leeram Stoneman with five second half sacks.

The running back by committee approach worked well for WR as Reiger Burgin (three rushing touchdowns), Thierry Sirias (one touchdown) and Jackson Reyes each received carries. Burgin will get the first look, and did well with his opportunities.

The way the West Ranch schedule shapes up, this could be another 5-0 start to the season for Chris Varner’s team.

They’ll have another chance to prove it next Friday against Granada Hills.

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