West Park rebounds to beat Vacaville, 22-6

West Park's varsity football team fell behind Vacaville, 6-0, on Friday night before scoring 22 unanswered points to beat the Bulldogs, 22-6. After scoring 64 points last week in an (can you believe this) overtime loss to Atwater, 65-64, the Bulldogs just managed one measly touchdown against a stout West Park defense. West Park improved to 1-1 after their opening-week loss to Whitney. "The kids responded well to setbacks the last couple of weeks," West Park coach Jason Tenner said. "We had a great week of practice and that fed into the game Friday night." Before the first quarter was over, West Park tied the score on a one-yard run by Declan Shindelbower. Luke Prestedge's extra point put the Panthers on top, 7-6. In the final minute of the second quarter, Jaden Jackson found Tanner McSweeney for a four-yard touchdown pass, as the Panthers extended their lead to 15-6 at halftime. Jackson completed a two-point conversion pass to Jax Madden. "We spotted them six points by turning the ball over on our side of the field," Tenner said. "I'm proud of the defense. Our defensive line and linebackers were all over the place. Jesiah Brewer was flying around making plays at middle line backer. Gavin McDaniel and Jax Madden had interceptions. Nick Pajcin was coming off the edge and had a couple of sacks. Nose tackle Neaman Miller played well. "We blocked a field goal. We played the screen game well and shutdown their run game." Shindelbower scored again in the fourth quarter for West Park's third touchdown of the game. He finished the game with 74 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Jaden Jackson passed for 212 yards on 16-of-23 passing. Five players caught at least two passes with McSweeney leading the way with five catches for 51 yards and a score. "It was a complete team win; I'm equally proud of the offense," Tenner said. Shindelbower pounded in two scores. McSweeney had a big game and Madix Ryan-Newman and Gavin McDaniel both had a couple big catches and Topher Peterson made four catches over the middle to lead our tight ends." The Panthers will now get set to hit the road and battle crosstown rival Roseville on Friday. Last season the teams played to a 35-28 end with the Panthers coming out on top. "We've got an intra-district battle at their place Friday night," Tenner said. "This is the best team they've had in years and it will be a tough one. We're going to have to protect the football and make sure we stop their run game."