By Jeremy Martin

Following a difficult week 1 loss at the hands of Fife, West Seattle High School returned to familiar surroundings with the hopes of picking up its first win of the 2013 season during a Friday night tilt with Metro League foe Seattle Prep.

But despite playing close to home at West Seattle Stadium, the young Wildcat squad had no answer for a Seattle Prep Panther rushing attack that featured a heavy dose of end around options and designed quarterback runs.

The 50-13 loss came as another reminder of where progress needs to be made for a Wildcat (0-2) team which only suites three seniors.

“There is a lot of people who haven’t played football out there on the field; it’s a building thing,” West Seattle High head coach Tom Burggraff said. “We want to learn from our mistakes and find the positives, find the individual efforts and celebrate them.”

Falling behind 50-0 at the half, The Wildcats picked up its intensity in the third, forcing two quick turnovers and nearly snagging another fumble on a kick return following a great special teams play while also holding the prolific Panther (1-1) offense to zero second half points.

Despite his age, sophomore quarterback Jaime Maples began the game like a seasoned veteran connecting on his first two passes and confidently rushing off tackle several times on designed keepers.

The speedy signal caller was able to amass 18 yards rushing on 15 attempts while also netting 88 passing yards including sailing a beautiful 25 yard third quarter fade to the right side of the end zone that fell into the outstretched arms of sophomore Carter Golgart.

“He was throwing fire, he’s got a great arm,” Burggraff said of his quarterback.

Golgart ended the night as the game’s top receiver picking up 52 yards receiving. He also rushed for 6 yards and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter after entering the game at quarterback following an injury to Maples.

Despite Maples' resilience, nobody on the Wildcat sideline could stack up against Seattle Prep’s Kevin Kocher as the quarterback zig, zagged and zipped his way to an impressive 119 yard rushing, 35 yards passing and three total touchdowns.

The senior’s most impressive moment came with just over ten minutes remaining in the second quarter when he faked a handoff to tailback Sam Kopf and took off around the right end, en route to an untouched 70 yard touchdown scamper.

The long score extended the Panther lead to 22-0 and it only get worse for the Wildcats as Prep would go on to score four touchdowns on its next five plays from scrimmage.

The streak included a 35 yard strike from Kocher to fellow senior McNeil Fulmore and two scores from kopf, the first a 35 yard off tackle rumble and the next a three yard punch following a 57 yard gain on the ground.

Kopf would finish the game with 148 yards on the ground.

The streak was capped off by a 75 yard run from junior Jordan Tolentino that extended the Panther lead to 50-0 forcing a running clock with just under 4 minutes remaining in the first half.

“A couple miscues and some good field position (for Prep), we’re young, what can I say,” Burggraff said.

But it wasn’t just solid execution by the Panthers that doomed West Seattle, as the Wildcats had trouble holding on to the football themselves, losing possession three times including twice muffing the snap before the plays had time to develop.

Regardless of what was happening on the scoreboard of what might have happened during previous plays, Burggraff managed to keep his team fired up and excited for the entire game.

“We try to forget about what happened, we can’t control the past,” the coach said.