The chances were there all night long for the W.F. West football team in its matchup against No. 6 Highline on Friday. But the Bearcats couldn’t make the most of just about any of them, losing 34-6 to end their season in the first round of the 2A state tournament.
“I feel like we outplayed them all night,” WFW coach Dan Hill said. “We just missed opportunities and didn’t execute when the plays were there to put points on the board.”
The Bearcats scored the first points of the night on a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Tucker Land, outgained their hosts 352-294, and finished the evening with fewer punts, fewer negative plays and more first downs.
But weighing down the other side of the scale were four turnovers, including an 85-yard pick-six by three-star safety Marquawn McCraney on a tipped ball off the hands of a Bearcat receiver.
That was one of five passing plays Friday night that Hill said W.F. West should have gotten points out of; none of them landed.
“It was just a bummer,” Hill said. “We played really well tonight, just had a few times of not being able to execute.”
Gage Brumfield racked up 159 yards on the ground on quarterback keepers, and also threw for 106 yards through the air. Declan McDonald caught four balls for 62 yards and also had 30 rushing yards, and Land added 84 total yards on four runs and three receptions.
W.F. West ends its season with a 7-4 record. The Bearcats are set to graduate 10 seniors: McDonald, Anthony Isenhower, Josafat Acuna Gaspar, Jorge Zamudio, Jaksen Besaw, Grant Alexander, Andy Jimenez, Hayden Carter, Andrew Penland and Spencer Cole.
“I’m for sure proud of the way the boys played,” Hill said. “I'm proud of the improvement this team’s made over the course of the year from beginning to end. We are a really good football team, and I’m sad they don’t get to move on.
