Golden Valley football hangs on to edge Westlake

SANTA CLARITA – The Golden Valley football team came into its season opener against Westlake wanting to turn over a new leaf from last year’s 3-7 season. They got off to a good start behind a strong performance from the defense and running back Jamison Torres in a 19-14 win Friday night.

Torres finished the game with 32 carries for 141 yards with two touchdowns and also helped contribute on the defensive side of the ball. Golden Valley’s defensive line was also very effective throughout the game with five sacks on Westlake quarterback Caden Atkinson.

“It feels good to get the win, a lot of our younger guys stepped up today,” Torres said. “I felt like I could’ve started off stronger, but our offensive line just kept pushing and I kept running behind them.”

Both teams got off to slow starts offensively, with the first score coming on the first play of the second quarter on a 15-yard run from Golden Valley’s Anthony Seragusa. Golden Valley extended its lead to 13-0 when Torres scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run in the middle of the second quarter.

Westlake cut the Grizzly lead to 13-7 right before halftime as Atkinson connected with Charles Davis on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Atkinson finished the game 14 of 22 for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

Golden Valley controlled the clock in the third quarter behind Torres and the run game. After forcing a Westlake three-and-out, Golden Valley had a 14-play drive that lasted seven minutes and 41 seconds that ended in Torres 1-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 19-7. Torres ran the ball 14 times in the third quarter.

“It’s a huge accomplishment to get that first one of the year as W,” Golden Valley coach Dan Kelley said. “Our defense played good football for four quarters and they played all the way to the last play.”

Westlake cut the lead to 19-14 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game when Atkinson connected with Charles for his second touchdown reception, on a 63-yard pass.

Following Charles’ second touchdown, Golden Valley recovered the onside kick and tried to kneel the ball down for four straight plays, but left five seconds on the clock.

On the final play of the game, Atkinson was sacked for a fifth time as Westlake tried to pull off a deep pass to win the game.

Westlake came into the game having had four head coaches in less than a year. New head coach and school athletic director Carnell Henderson took over the reins in June with a team that he wants to see grow as the season moves along.

“I thought they showed us exactly what we wanted,” Henderson said. “We fought hard until the very end and just had a couple mistakes that hurt us at inopportune times.”

Golden Valley quarterback Brandon Contreras finished the game 8 of 14 for 78 yards and one interception. Sergusa had five catches for 32 yards with a touchdown run and also a fumble recovery on defense on a fumble forced by Jordan Flores in the 3rd quarter.

Charles finished the game for Westlake with four catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Vincent Carner had four catches for 60 yards for Westlake.

Golden Valley will play Antelope Valley on the road next week. Westlake plays at home against Agoura.