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The two programs are neighbors in the Town of Mount Pleasant with Vikings' players all from Valhalla and the Wildcats from Hawthorne and Thornwood.
Westlake won the coin toss and took the ball to the Valhalla 16-yard line before Vikings cornerback Jordan Rush deflected a fourth-down Wildcat pass in the end zone to stop the drive.
Valhalla quarterback Brody McGuinn mixed runs to fullback Joseph Pecora and tailback Sebastian Pacheco on the Vikings first drive.On a fourth-down with 15 yards to go, McGuinn faked to a running back, escaped the grasp of a Wildcat defender and unloaded a 20-yard pass to Pecora coming out of the backfield. Several plays later, Pecora took a hand off from McGuinn and ran it in to make the score 6-0.
Valhalla’s defensive line of Ethan Brookes, Francesco Falco, Ritchie Nagashima, Matt Connolly, Brett Dolan and John Menonna stonewalled the Wildcats running game. Westlake tried the passing game and threatened late in the first half, but the secondary of Rush, J.J. Gooden, Marco Mazza and Preston Williams was able to adjust and the half ended 6-0.
McGuinn did his fourth-down magic again in the second half, finding Pacheco open for a 20- yard bomb that resulted in a first down deep in Wildcats territory. Pacheco then took a hand off from McGuinn, ran off tackle, broke through the secondary and scored for a 12-0 lead.
“We know and like those guys," McGuinn said of the Westlake team. "Things just went our way today. We were able to run the ball, get some passes out there and have some fun, that’s all.”
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