Quick strikes end ’Cats

W.R. still nearly completes comeback

SIMI VALLEY — The West Ranch High football team gave up too many big plays in its season opener against Simi Valley, and that took away any chance the Wildcats had at an upset victory.

West Ranch was protecting a six-point lead late in the first half when the Pioneers reeled off a pair of touchdowns in a 72-second span before halftime.

Simi Valley added another score early in the third quarter on a 65yard sprint by quarterback Cole Hauptman as the Pioneers edged West Ranch 28-26 in the season opener Friday night at Simi Valley High.

West Ranch had a chance to tie it late. Down by eight, Wildcats quarterback Wyatt Eget threw a 17yard touchdown pass to Jovan Camacho with 3:12 left in regulation.

But Simi Valley’s Juan Puentes batted down Eget’s pass on the two-point conversion attempt to close it out.

“Our guys played their hearts out — that’s all I could ask,” said West Ranch head coach Chris Varner. “I liked that we didn’t give up when

it looked like we could have.”

West Ranch was first to the scoreboard when Eget threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Jackson with 4:27 left in the second quarter. The Pioneers blocked the pointafter attempt.

Simi Valley answered with Hauptman’s 16-yard scoring toss to Curtis

Cuillard. Hauptman barely had time to adjust his chinstrap before his 60yard scoring jaunt, giving the Pioneers a 14-6 advantage at the break.

“Our motto is fast to the ball,” Hauptman said. “We were trying to beat the defense to the ball, and I think that’s what we did.”

Hauptman opened the second half with another long scoring run, but Wildcats’ Ryan Camacho took the ensuing kickoff

85 yards for a touchdown to trim Simi Valley’s lead to 21-13.

The Pioneers’ final TD came on Hauptman’s 13-yard aerial to Cuillard. Eget then brought his team to within eight points with a 35-yard strike to Jovan Camacho.

After that, Simi Valley’s defense did just enough to preserve the victory.

“Big plays really helped us,” said Simi Valley head coach Ryan

Taggart. “We just want to play fast and score. It took us awhile to get things rolling, but once our guys got their legs under them, it worked out.”

West Ranch will travel to Pasadena High on Friday, while Simi will host Rio Mesa of Oxnard.

“We’ll shore up the little mistakes here and there, the bad throws, missed tackles and dropped balls,” Varner said. “We can fix that.”