We caught that jubilant jump from someone on the sidelines just as the West Seattle High School Wildcats varsity football players were lining up on the Memorial Stadium field last night to exchange handshakes with the Enumclaw players they’d just beaten, 38 to 20. Their next playoff opponent: undefeated Ferndale. Read on for the story of the Saturday night win (which we covered “live” via Twitter) that brought the Wildcats to 9-1 on the year:

By Patrick Sand
WSB co-publisher

On Saturday night, West Seattle High moved the ball up and down the field with such ease that they’d have you believe last week’s loss was a very distant memory. Scoring on all but two possessions, the Wildcats ran off a 38-20 win over the Enumclaw High Hornets. That win sends the team to Whatcom County for the next round of the state playoffs, facing Ferndale.

After the game, WSHS coach Davis Lura told WSB that his team regained the intensity they needed to win – here’s a clip:

West Seattle set the tone for the game by eating up most of the first quarter on their very first possession. Almost seven minutes were chewed up before T.J. Lee scored the first of his four touchdowns of the night. From there it was a story of increasing efficiency for the Wildcats. Scoring drives came in two-minute clumps for the rest of the half.

Enumclaw matched West Seattle’s efforts in the first half picking up two quick successive scores. About midway through the second quarter, the Hornets hung onto the ball for about four and a half minutes, scoring 11 plays. They followed that with a onside kick and managed to get the ball right back. On the first play after the recovered kick, Enumclaw quarterback Riley Carel went to the air and found wide receiver Jason Greer for the score. Enumclaw managed to make one more touchdown just as time ran out at the end of the game.

While the two teams were evenly matched for player size and strength, West Seattle managed to dominate the statistical battle. The Wildcats owned time of possession, total yardage, and particularly rushing.

Next week it’s the first big road trip of the playoffs for West Seattle. Coach Lura gave us a preview of what’s in store:

Ferndale got to the next round by beating Bonney Lake last night, 56-6 (read more about it here). The West Seattle-Ferndale game will be at Civic Stadium in Bellingham; we’ll let you know as soon as the date and time are confirmed.