West Valley earned a historic win Friday night, beating South 42-21 for what Wolfpack coach Kyle Allison said was the team's first win over the Wolverines.
The Wolfpack took advantage of four fumble recoveries on defense and 448 total yards on offense to come away with the decisive victory at South.
"They really wanted to come out here and make a statement tonight," Allison said. "Everyone just came together as a team and overcame adversity all night."
[Friday's high school football scores]
The longest play of the night came on West Valley's final touchdown.
Quarterback Zachary Lester audibled out of a run play and found running back Joshua Cummings racing up the right hashmark for a 65-yard touchdown.
"Coach called in a play and said 'audible if you want, if the safety's playing down,' " Lester said. "I audibled it and I knew it was going to be a touchdown as soon as the ball left my hand."
[West delivers in crunch time to defeat Chugiak]
Lester finished with 154 passing yards and threw four touchdowns to four players.
On the ground, Cummings (113 yards) and running back Isaiah Warner (96 yards) did most of the damage.
"Our offensive line was amazing tonight," Allison said.
West Valley scored on its first drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Lester to Chancelor Fields Colbert. A 2-point conversion put the Wolfpack up 8-0.
South responded with a five-minute drive capped by 3-yard touchdown run by Evan Benedict.
The Wolfpack bounced back with two more touchdown passes from Lester and went into halftime up 22-7 after South failed to score on two plays from the 1-yard line before time expired. South coach John Lewis said his team was out of timeouts.
South played its best football in the fourth quarter.
A quarterback sneak by Jack Hanson cut the score to 34-14 and set up an onside kick recovered by the Wolverines' Tufa Mailealo.
That led to a 13-yard touchdown pass from Hanson to Steve Sizemore with less than nine minutes remaining.
But South couldn't keep its momentum. The Wolverines lost their fourth fumble of the game and West Valley closed out the win.
Hanson led South with 129 passing yards and Benedict had 85 yards on the ground.
"The kids underestimated the team, like they shouldn't (have)," Lewis said. "They allowed West Valley to gain momentum, strength and tons of energy."
West Valley 8 14 12 8 — 42
South 0 7 0 14 — 21
First Quarter
West Valley — Field Colbert 4 pass from Lester (Damario run), 5:07.
Second Quarter
South — Benedict 3 run (Benedict kick), 11:54.
West Valley — Warner 10 pass from Lester (Stacy pass), 9:33.
West Valley — Simon 37 pass from Lester (Lester run failed), 3:40.
Third Quarter
West Valley — Cummings 11 run (Cummings run failed), 1:16.
West Valley — Warner 6 run (Lester run failed), 0:52.
Fourth Quarter
South — Hanson 1 run (Benedict kick), 11:13.
South — Sizemore 13 pass from Hanson (Benedict kick), 8:51.
West Valley — Cummings 65 pass from Lester (Field Colbert pass), 7:23.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — West Valley: Cummings 9-113, Warner 10-96, Damario 14-47, Lester 8-38. South: Benedict 13-85, Kinnebrew 11-48, Stokes 11-38, Stearns 6-21, Whitlatch 1-6, Hanson 4-(-17).
PASSING — West Valley: Lester 6-12-0–154. South: Hanson 10-20-0–129.
RECEIVING — West Valley: Cummings 1-65, Fields Colbert 3-42, Simon 1-37, Warner 1-10. South: Turvey 6-58, Stearns 2-47, Kinnebrew 1-16, Sizemore 1-13.