The Prowl

The Student News Site of Weston Ranch High School

The Prowl

The Prowl

FOOTBALL: Cougars Look to Bounce Back Against Bruins

The lights went out before Weston Ranch’s football game against Edison in an ominous sign of things to come. The two teams decided to play on, and the symbolic turned into the literal as Edison turned the lights out on the Cougars, 54-0. The loss dropped the Cougars to 2-2 and 0-1 in the SJAA.

The Cougars appeared to be staring straight at a menacing Friday night from the opening possession. QB Jose Aguilar hit Josh Mellion for a 51-yard completion only to have it called back on a WR penalty. Then, in a sign that things were going to get worse, two plays later, Aguilar fumbled in the end zone, and the Vikings recovered for their first score. With barely two minutes gone, the Cougars were down 7-0 to a team who spent the entire game capitalizing on the Weston Ranch miscues. The Cougars surrendered seven Edison TDs, a field goal, and a safety. It was not the game head coach Ron Wayman expected from his 2-1 team heading into the inaugural SJAA league game.

“We let Edison dictate the game and didn’t play the game we are capable of and have shown in our first three games,” Wayman said. “There were some bad things, but some good things happened. Fernando Vargas coming in at QB after we lost Jose demonstrated a poise that we needed, we just could not give him the time, and our receivers could not get open long enough for him to make the throws. We will build on the good things in this week’s practice and refocus and correct the bad.”

However, last week was last week, and the Cougars will hit the road in search of their first SJAA victory.

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Weston Ranch (2-2) will travel to Bear Creek HS of Stockton (1-3) to take on the Bruins. Tonight’s game at Bear Creek hopes to be a brighter light for the Cougars.

The Bruins, 1-0 in the SJAA, are coming off a 56-20 home win over Chavez HS and will set their sights on making Weston Ranch, 0-1 in the SJAA, their second league win.

Through their first three games (all losses), the Bruins had trouble scoring and managed to put up 19 total points before last week’s 56-point outburst against Chavez. Weston Ranch will need to return to running the football and playing good defense, two things they were doing well until the Edison game began.

“This Friday against Bear Creek will again be a test for us,” said Wayman. “We spent a lot of practice time fixing what we didn’t do last Friday and continue to improve on what we did right. This week’s game will match our speed with their speed. We have had to make minor adjustments, like giving Fernando Vargas more repetitions at QB since he will be starting this week at that position. But, I will ensure we will be ready to go.”

Some players who will need to be ready to go are Vargas, who will step in as the Cougars’ QB to fill in for the absence of Jose Aguilar, both RBs De’antae and De’andre Lavan, and sophomore WR Josh Mellion. Vargas, a sophomore, will try to kickstart the passing attack after last week’s setback. The Lavans have big play ability and will need to continue to rush the football with the confidence they showed in the first three games. In addition, Mellion is a deep-threat passing option Vargas will need to find in the open field.

Friday’s contest will be interesting to see how the Cougars regroup and bounce back after a lopsided defeat. Until last Friday, the Cougars have been in three tight games, winning two and losing a close one at Mountain House. However, Wayman will continue to progress on his team’s overall mission of competing in every game and the program’s respectability in the SJAA.

“It seems that every Friday night game is another battle that will be physical and emotional. So now is the time to learn from last Friday night, put it behind us, focus on the task ahead of us, prepare like we haven’t all season, commit to the road ahead, and deliver for us and our fans.” Wayman concluded.

Kickoff for tonight’s game at Bear Creek will happen at 7:15. The JV will begin at 5:15.

 

 

 

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FOOTBALL: Cougars Look to Bounce Back Against Bruins