THE BIG GAME / SANTANA-WEST HILLS : Wolf Pack Roars Past Sultans

For both teams, a victory meant the Grossmont 2-A League championship. For West Hills High School, a victory also meant its first-ever playoff spot.

The Wolf Pack showed no mercy in defeating Santana, 42-7, Friday night at West Hills.

Even with one minute remaining and an overwhelming victory secured, West Hills (8-2, 4-0) refused to let up.

“On that last goal-line stance we could have folded, but we didn’t,” West Hills Coach Steve Sutton said. “That told the whole story.”

Santana (4-4-1, 2-1-1) made two big plays, one to begin the scoring and one on the final play of the game. The Sultans drove the ball to the one-yard line with 1:32 remaining, but the Wolf Pack stopped them.

West Hills took control in the second quarter, scoring 21 points in the quarter. It led, 28-7, at halftime.

At the start of the second quarter, Fred Buckley caught a four-yard pass from quarterback Joey Fitzgerald. A kick from Nathan Vail gave West Hills a 14-7 lead.

Santana had the ball on the 30-yard line when West Hills blocked the punt and Craig Threlfall ran the ball into the end zone from 14 yards to increase the Wolf Pack’s lead to 21-7.

With 1:32 remaining in the first half, Fitzgerald threw a 34-yard pass to Mike Campbell, putting the ball on the one-yard line. West Hills didn’t gain any yards on the next play, but Campbell ran one yard for the touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

In the third quarter, a high snap on a punt by Santana resulted in a West Hills touchdown. After the snap, Jason Vesco picked up the loose ball and ran it in from 20 yards to give West Hills a 35-7 lead.

Vesco was instrumental on another West Hills touchdown. He intercepted Dan Mason’s pass intended for Aaron Lambert in the fourth quarter and ran it in from 44 yards.

“The last game on our home field I didn’t have too good of a showing,” Vesco said. “I just wanted to do the best I could, but the game wasn’t just one person, it was a team thing. This has been a dream of ours since we were freshmen.”

To complete the scoring, Nick Hanline gained 19 yards in three carries. Ike Paige then scored on an 11-yard run, and another kick by Vail made it, 42-7.

On Santana’s first possession of the game, the Sultans drove 92 yards in 12 plays before Jason Lewis scored on a two-yard run. Gabe Hernandez kicked the extra point for Santana to give the Sultans a 7-0 lead.

West Hills then scored on its next possession. Hanline scored on a 15-yard run to tie the score, 7-7, at the end of the first quarter.