Brock Guyette ran for three touchdowns and W.F. West’s offense came alive to overcome a slow start and hold off visiting Rochester, 38-20, in 2A Evergreen Conference action Friday night for homecoming.
Guyette led all ball carriers with 109 yards on 13 carries as the Bearcats ran for 165 yards total to go with 174 passing in a balanced offensive effort.
“Hats off to Rochester,” W.F. West coach Dan Hill said. “They’re physical and hard nosed. Talon Betts is a good running back and he got some yards in the first half.”
The Warriors gave the Bearcats an early scare when senior speedster Betts took the opening kickoff, a squib kick, to the house before it was called back on a penalty. The Warriors still capitalized on their opening drive, however, when Landon Hawes hit Garren Smith for a wide-open 26-yard touchdown pass.
W.F. West tied it up and took the lead, starting with Guyette’s 2-yard run and Gavin Fugate’s 19-yard quarterback keeper with 5:14 left before the half.
Rochester would tie it back up two minutes later off Betts’ 10-yard rushing score, but W.F. West answered right back with Fugate’s 3-yard touchdown pass to freshman Gage Brumfield with just a minute to go before the half to retake the lead for good.
Fugate finished 14 for 24 passing for 174 yards.
“Offensively, we executed well and defensively we had a few mistakes in the first half,” Hill said. “If we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we’re a little better off in the first half.”
The Bearcats’ varsity defense pitched a shutout in the second and Rochester scored against backups with 27 seconds left in regulation.
After losing a 7-0 defensive battle to Kelso in their season opener, Hill said his offense, that has averaged 43.6 points per game in the five games since then, has grown stronger now that everyone has had more reps.
“The guys are continuing to grow each week. It’s exciting to see,” Hill said. “All the receivers other than Logan Moore are new this year. They’ve got it down. We did a lot of good things again.”
Rochester, coming off a win over Centralia last week, was led by Betts’ 19 carries for 65 yards and a score. Tate Quarnstrom filled in at quarterback after Hawes went down with an injury in the first half and finished 3 for 5 passing for 78 yards and a score.
Rochester (4-2, 2-2 league) hosts Evergreen (Seattle) in a non-league matchup on Friday.
W.F. West (4-2, 2-1 league) hosts Aberdeen in 2A EvCo action Friday.
