newsminer.com

Victor Wisel's 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was just icing on the cake for the West Valley tight end in the Wolfpack's 38-6 win over Lathrop Friday night.

Wisel, who had 46 yards on eight carries. he also caught three passes for 58 yards (though his longest reception of 24 yards was fumbled away) and threw one pass to Nick Herzberg for 63 yards (Herzberg fumbled that one away, too).

Running back Jacob Claypoole also breached the end zone as a receiver, reeling in a 15-yard strike from Sam McKinstry in the third quarter. He also earned the distinction of being the only Wolfpack receiver who didn't fumble the ball, finishing with two catches for 24 yards.

The third quater TD to Claypoole was McKinstry's only throwing touchdown of the night, but he added two scores with his feet on rushes of 7 and 4 yards. He completed seven of his 10 passes.

McKinstry's 126 yards passing upped his season total to 646 yards. He now has five touchdowns and four interceptions on the year, and his completion percentage rose to 44.2 percent from 41.5 percent.

Wisel also caused the Wolfpack to break away with a 87-yard kickoff return to open the second quarter.

Lathrop's new spread attack with Denzel Crump at quarterback has potential, but the blocking needs more work around the corners. The Malemutes' heavies did well with runs up the gut, but pitches to the outside routinely resulted in losses.

The Lathrop defense looked comfortable when they were on the attack, but when they overpursued upfield on running plays, Claypoole and Wisel were able to torch the front seven.