It was obvious from the opening kickoff that the Wildcats were dialed in, and they got contributions from all three phases in a dominant 52-13 victory over the Grizzlies.

West Ranch came into last night’s Foothill League opener against Golden Valley with the stingiest scoring defense (14.8) and the most takeaways (15) in the league through the first five games of the season.

Golden Valley now knows those numbers are no fluke. The Wildcats swarmed the ball all night long, frustrating the Grizzlies and forcing them into mistake after mistake. It all started with shutting down the top run offense in the league, led by Johnathan Kaelin and Chris Alcantar. Kaelin rushed for 366 yards in last week’s win over Newbury Park, and Alcantar added 119 more.

West Ranch held the entire Golden Valley offense to under 100 yards rushing, forcing the Grizzlies to abandon the run by the third quarter.

“After he got 300 plus yards last week, obviously that was our goal. I said, ‘beat us with somebody other than thirteen [Kaelin]’ … and our kids jus came out and executed,” said West Ranch coach Chris Varner after the game.

The Wildcats started fast, mixing run and pass with good balance. Reiger Burgin ripped off a 64 yard touchdown run (Burgin would score three rushing touchdowns on the night) on his third carry of the game to open the scoring on the ‘Cats first drive. In the second quarter, Walker Eget connected with Derek Miranda on a well designed screen pass for a 24 yard touchdown and Richard Padilla, Jr. hit a 24 yard field goal late in the half.

West Ranch went into halftime with a 17-0 lead, and Golden Valley walked off the field appearing dejected.

Golden Valley quarterback Jaxson Miner and the Grizzlies offense began to click in the third quarter, with Miner connecting with Mahdi Bey and Mekhile Newton for pretty touchdown passes; however, just when it looked like Golden Valley might gain some momentum, West Ranch took it right back.

Wildcats answer quickly with Burgin’s 2nd TD run of the game from 5 yards out PAT good

West Ranch 24
Golden Valley 7@WestRanchFB pic.twitter.com/WBk5a9cb0I

— KHTS Sports (@KHTSSports) October 5, 2019

Insert the third phase of the game, special teams. After Mahdi Bey’s touchdown catch and a missed extra point, it was 24-13 with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter and the home crowd was loud again. West Ranch senior Jackson Reyes returned the ensuing kickoff to the house, stunning the Golden Valley sideline and it proved to be the backbreaking play of the second half.

In total, the Wildcats scored 10 points on special teams and 21 points off of their five turnovers.

West Ranch receiver/cornerback Brandon Wyre took over the remainder of the game, scoring on two long touchdown catches to go with his first half interception. He finished with five catches for 143 yards and the two scores.

“He’s [Wyre] been a game-changer for us for three years, unfortunately just been a little overshadowed because of the Camachos, so this is his year to shine,” said Varner.

West Ranch moves to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in league play, while Golden Valley (5-1, 0-1) must regroup with Saugus coming in next week. Just how good can the Wildcats be this season?

“I have no idea, but it should be exciting.”

Click here for the full scoreboard and reaction from around the Foothill League.