WILLITS — The Westshore Cardinals probably aren’t going to put this game film in their time capsule, but they’ll take their hard-earned if not pretty 25-0 victory Saturday at Willits.
Westshore improved to 4-0 in the varsity division of the Mendo Lake Empire Junior Football League standings with its shutout win, setting the stage for the Cardinals’ home game this coming Saturday against the only other undefeated team, the Middletown Colts (4-0).
“We have to play better,” Westshore head coach Derek Butcher said in summing up his team’s latest effort on a rainy and muddy Willits field. “We had a lot of penalties, we had the ball within their 5-yard line twice and came up empty.”
The only points of the first half came on the final play of the second quarter as Jason Hedrick scored on a 40-yard pass from AJ Bruch to make it 6-0.
Westshore’s offense and defense each put up a touchdown in the third quarter as the Cardinals moved out to a 19-0 lead. Jesse Hayes scored on a 57-yard run while Mikel Compton picked off a Willits pass and motored 63 yards for a score. Compton also ran in the extra point.
Hayes added a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to account for the final score. Hayes led the team with 228 rushing yards on 20 carries. Compton added 35 yards on seven carries.
“In the second half we got the offense going the right direction and our defense shut down their offense,” Butcher said.
For the Westshore defense, Nathan Boomer led the team with two solo tackles and four assists. Bruch had four solo stops and Colton Mendoca one, plus a fumble recovery.
“Overall we played like the kid who plays second fiddle in the school marching band,” Butcher added.
