Royal Suffers Long Night

All week long, Westlake High quarterback Zac Wasserman watched videotape of Royal’s big-play offense. He was envious, to say the least.

“Our offense should be putting up numbers like that every week,” Wasserman said.

The Warriors came through Friday night, scoring on long passes and runs to beat Royal, 43-16, in a Marmonte League opener at Westlake.

Wasserman completed 16 of 23 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior receiver Joey Cuppari caught five passes for 103 yards and three scores.

“We had a lot to prove,” Wasserman said. “We haven’t been so good the past few weeks.”

Too many turnovers caused Westlake to drop two of its first three games, including a heart-breaking 18-14 loss at Hart last week. The Warriors felt they needed a victory to get back on track.

Royal (3-1) was hoping to prove its first three victories were no fluke.

The Highlanders, who have made a habit of scoring on long runs, looked strong at the start. Their one-two punch, backs Bryant Phipps and Steve Sheehan, took turns pounding out yardage on an opening drive that went 52 yards in 5 minutes 30 seconds.

But Royal stalled at Westlake’s 28-yard line and the Warriors wasted no time responding.

Wasserman lofted a pass to Cuppari who out-jumped Phipps at midfield and ran the rest of the way for a 72-yard touchdown. After a failed two-point conversion, the score was 6-0.

Wasserman had his way with Royal in the early going, completing eight of his first nine passes. He and Cuppari hooked up again on Westlake’s next drive. The tandem finished off a 62-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown pass.

But it was an ill-advised throw by Wasserman in the final seconds of the first half that finally got Royal on the scoreboard. Phipps intercepted the pass and returned it into Westlake territory, allowing Jon Ruiz to kick a 34-yard field goal for a 12-3 halftime score.

Wasserman threw another bad pass in the third quarter, and Royal defensive back Ryan Gaudioso returned it 80 yards for a touchdown that closed the gap to 18-10.

Those were the only major mistakes in an otherwise sparkling performance by the Warriors.

Running back Demeko Robinson added touchdown runs of 18 and eight yards in the fourth quarter as Westlake pulled away.

Phipps and Sheehan were held to a combined 22 carries for 99 yards and, most importantly, no long runs.

“We just played bad,” Sheehan said.