The future clashed with the present on Friday night.

Freshman Wyatt Hoffman took snaps in the second half at quarterback, potentially signaling that he may be the starter for the W.F. West High School football team from 2025-27. For now, senior Gage Brumfield sits on that throne.

That duo came together to put the Bearcats in front from beginning to end.

Brumfield looked towards Hoffman, who earned his first start at wide receiver, multiple times in the first quarter and connected for two touchdowns that jump-started the Bearcats’ 50-8 verdict over Class 3A Timberline in their home opener.

“I thought he did amazing, he knew what he was doing the whole time,” Brumfield said. “He’s going to be a really good football player when he grows up.”

Coach Dan Hill called this the best game W.F. West (3-0) has played to this point. The score says that, but did the stats? Emphatically.

Timberline had just two total yards for 48 minutes. That’s not a typo. The front-seven were feasting in the Blazers backfield with a bounty of tackles for loss plus EDGE Grady Westlund notched multiple sacks.

W.F. West controlled the possession game with 245 yards on the ground.

“Everything was clicking tonight,” Hill said.

With senior Ross Kelley out with an injury – Hill said the playmaker should be back next week – Hoffman was thrusted into offensive snaps. He was primarily playing defense only in the opening two weeks.

The 5-foot-11 wideout caught a screen and dashed 37 yards for the opening touchdown. Then three plays into Timberline’s first drive, Brooks Ledgerwood snared an interception and took it 44 yards to the house.

W.F. West recovered the surprise onside kick and Brumfield found Hoffman again on a screen that went for an 11-yard touchdown.

Before the first quarter was halfway done, the Bearcats bullied their way to leading by three scores.

“It was a good night for (Wyatt) and I’m excited for his efforts,” Hill stated. “The big things for us was to improve on pass protection and handle ‘A’ gap pressure and six-man blitzes. They did a great job handling the pressure.”

The lone blip for the Bearcats was allowing an 87-yard kickoff return touchdown by Timberline’s Keaton Thomas. They responded the next two offensive drives with a 30-yard scamper by Tucker Land and a 1-yard plunge from Miles Martin to enact the running clock.

Brumfield totaled over 200 yards of total offense once again and now sits at 11 total touchdowns on the season. Guyette added 61 yards on the ground, 19 of them that went for a third quarter score.

“We used everybody,” Brumfield said.

Having blown by North Kitsap in Week 1 and clipping 3A Capital last Friday has reshaped how the Bearcats view themselves in Class 2A. With a 17-person senior class, they are trying for another deep run for the second time in three seasons.

Hill wanted W.F. West to be tested in the non-league. Its last two non-league games – Shelton and Battle Ground – are sandwiched with 2A EvCo contests at Aberdeen and at Tiger Stadium versus Centralia for The Swamp Cup.

“It fully opened our eye to show what we could be ,and good we could be” Brumfield said.

All eyes are still looking towards Week 8 when the EvCo will potentially be decided between W.F. West and Tumwater. Both are 3-0 heading into the second portion of the season.

The ceiling for the Bearcats? That remains to be seen.

“We (have) a lot of improving to do,” Hill said. “It is as high as they want to get it. The ceiling is going to keep growing and growing. Hopefully we’re reaching peak level come the latter part of the season. We’re on track.”