I'm Glad You Asked

In a matchup that could have placed your beloved Wildcats on top of the Foothill League, the home eleven fell to a talented Saugus team by 21 points.

We told the kids afterwards that they played hard, which is true: they also played badly, which is also true. Execution was the name of the game on Friday, and Saugus had it while we did not.

Offensively, we had some big plays: a hook-and-ladder play to start the game went for fifty yards or so, and an off tackle breakaway to start the second half went almost as long. But we were unable to capitalize on those big plays and ended up not scoring at all until the end of the game. We were able to move the ball inside the twenties, and probably had a couple hundred yards in total offense, but none of that really mattered since we could not put up the points. We also made some critical errors on offense that put our defense in tough spots.

Defensively, although we had many flashes of good execution, we suffered critical breakdowns in key situations that kept Saugus alive. Players played hard but forgot techniques and assignments, which Saugus used against us.

Special teams neither hurt us nor helped us much: we missed a field goal early (turns out it would not really have helped) and missed our first onside of the year late in the game.

We still believe in the effort and heart of the team--we have since watching them against Glendora. We have yet to put all of our talents and energies together for a sustained 48 minute game. When and if we can do that, I truly believe we can be formidable.

Current Foothill JV Standings:

1. Saugus 2-0 (def. West Ranch 28-7: next vs. Golden Valley)
1. Canyon 2-0 (def. Hart 38-0: next vs. West Ranch)
3. West Ranch 1-1 (lost to Saugus 28-7: next vs. Canyon)
3. Valencia 1-1 (def. Golden Valley: next vs. Hart)
5. Hart 0-2 (lost to Canyon 38-0: next vs. Valencia)
5. Golden Valley 0-2 (lost to Valencia: next vs. Saugus)

Next Week: Canyon!

Your West Ranch Wildcats accomplished many of their league opener goals on Friday evening:

1. We wanted to end a two-game losing streak.
2. We wanted to climb back to .500.
3. We wanted to be in the top half for JV Foothill league teams.

All of that was accomplished with our sometimes uneven victory against Golden Valley.

Before a recap of the game, let me say that it is very impressive to see how far GVHS has come in two years. They have improved from disbanding a team in 2006 to fielding a weak team in 2007 to this respecatble team in 2008. If Golden Valley continues to improve, they will give some teams some trouble very soon.

Now, the game.

We scored a very quick 21 points against GV while holding them to nothing in the first quarter. Almost everything we did on offense was highly successful, and we were able to hold GV's offense.

The second quarter, however, was a different story. We either became complacent or tired or something, because we allowed GV to score twice before half and reenergized the entire Grizzly sideline. It was a complete meltdown: we suddenly had enormous trouble tackling and we turned the ball over on offense.

To start the second half, GV took over on their own 20 and proceeded to drive 80 yards to score. They had missed their first two extra points, so they went for 2 and got it.

The score was then 21-20. We led by one point.

To our offense's credit, we scored fifteen points to put the game out of reach before we could use some of our reserves, and we took time doing so. With about 8:00 left in the game, we were up I think 36-20.

Our second offensive unit then drove the field and scored against GV's first unit, and we are very proud of our second team line, receiver corps, and quarterback. They played admirably well and did not let up, making the score 43-20.

Golden Valley scored on our second unit to make the final score 43-28.

We have much to work on defensively, and the entire squad has to know that a football game is made up of 48:00 and is never over until the final gun. We face a Saugus team that is also 1-0 in league, having defeated Hart's JV's with what I think was a 28-7 score. In fact, here are the scores as I understand them:

West Ranch 1-0 (def. Golden Valley 43-28: plays Saugus next)
Saugus 1-0 (def. Hart 28-7: plays West Ranch next)
Canyon 1-0 (def. Valencia 45-47: plays Hart next)
Valencia 0-1 (lost to Canyon 48-46: plays Golden Valley next)
Hart 0-1 (lost to Saugus 28-7: plays Canyon next)
Golden Valley 0-1 (lost to West Ranch 43-28: plays Valencia next)

Next Week: Saugus!

In a fiercely-fought battle that went down to the last few seconds, your Wildcats came up just short against a tough Los Osos sophomore squad.

Any game that is decided by 4 points is likely to have been decided by small things, and this was indeed the case. We suffered an uncharacteristic lapse in special teams Friday that cost us the game: a punt return for a touchdown and several other kicks that were returned for long yardage, putting our defense in several tight spots. We have been so good for so long on special teams that it was disappointing to suffer the breakdowns we did.

We had several big plays on defense to stop drives: one interception near our own goal line to kill an opening Los Osos drive and a second tipped ball interception that stopped another gave us life. We also stopped Los Osos a few times on 4th down to get the ball back and forced some punts. Despite the 28 points, we are not too upset with our defensive performance. We do, however, need to reinforce our tackling.

Offensively, we were able to drive the ball and score. We only had three possessions in the first half, and they ended with a field goal, a touchdown, and the clock. We scored 10 points in the first half and the other 14 in the second: a fair performance. We also had our first touchdown pass of the season, which was a bright spot.

We told our boys we are proud of them, and so we are: we played well and fought hard for four quarters. Our opponent was a good one and we have nothing to be ashamed of.

I am sure, however, that the boys are a bit tired of listening to me saying they played well when they can look at the scoreboard showing they still lost. We need to turn these good performances into victories that are not just moral ones.

Next week: Foothill League starts against Golden Valley!

When Jim Lovell and his crew managed to return to earth safely despite having not landed on the moon, the Apollo 13 mission was called the "successful failure."

This game may well be called "the victorious defeat."

Your Wildcats found themselves facing a JV team comprised of some very big, very strong, very fast juniors and sophomores--a unit they lost to last year--and never backed down nor gave up.

We were down 20-0 at halftime, and we later would go on to be down 34-0 at one point. Most teams would have folded, given up, asked for a running clock. Not us.

We finally put some drives and big plays together on offense and also managed to stop the Tartans on defense, and started scoring.

34-7.

A stop on defense.

34-14.

A successful onside kick.

34-21.

ANOTHER successful onside kick.

And, alas, that is where the magic ended. We were unable to convert on a fourth down and gave the ball back to Glendora with about a minute to go.

I have never been prouder of this team than I am after this.

Next week: Los Osos!