WILDWOOD – It is always nice to have your seniors step up and make big plays on opening day.

Jameer Bryson and Craig Jones did just that for the West Catholic Prep football team on a breezy, sunny Saturday afternoon in the Beach Bowl matchup with Roman Catholic at Warrior Field scoring twice each to lead the Burrs over the Cahillites, 35-16.

“That’s a big thing for us,” veteran West Catholic coach Brian Fluck said. “We expect our seniors to step up for us and make big plays. And both of them are good players.”

Bryson was the first one to make his presence felt when he stepped in front of a Roman receiver running an out pattern and picked off quarterback Phil DiWilliams’ pass, returning it down the sideline 68 yards for a touchdown.

“They were running a quick out pattern,” Bryson explained. “I saw it and jumped the route and stepped in front of the receiver and took it for a touchdown. It felt great. I was excited.”

That play came with 5 minutes 50 seconds left in the first quarter and gave West a 7-0 lead. On the Burrs next possession, near the end of the quarter, Bryson caught a pass from Joshua Evans, who transferred into West from Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N Y, crossing over the middle and ran it in for a 28-yard touchdown play that gave the Burrs a 14-0 lead.

“I had to make an adjustment on the ball,” Bryson said. “But he (Evans) did a good job getting it to me.”

Next up was Jones. After West blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety, Jones momentarily bobbled the ensuing free kick, but picked up the ball, darted through a hole and turned up the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown return and a 22-0 West lead with just over three minutes left in the half.

“When I came in as a freshman I didn’t get the chance to play that much,” Jones said. “When I had a chance to showcase my talents, I did. I’ve had some tough times, but now I'm a senior. It was time for me to step up and I did.”

He did again in the fourth quarter after Roman had scored a touchdown on a Troy Brown two-yard run to trail 22-10. Jones found a seam in the Roman pass defense and Evans hit him in stride for a 31-yard touchdown to open up a 28-10 lead.

“I told my coach they were covering the out pattern pretty good but there was a seam over the middle,” Jones explained. “I ran a post pattern and he made a nice throw.”

Bryson, Jones and Naeem Skief all received game balls for the Burrs. They played well against the pass all game, especially in the first half when West jumped out to a 22-3 lead at halftime.

“It was a good start for us,” Fluck said. “We have some things to work on, offside penalties and some simple mistakes but they are all things you can fix. The kids did a nice job.”

One thing about Roman, which has only five starters back from last year’s team, is it didn’t quit. After Jones’ second touchdown DiWilliams completed two straight passes, one of 20 yards to Tayvon Williams and another good for 57 yards over the middle to Donathan McCants to the West 3-yard line. From there Troy Brown carried it in to make it 28-16.

Later in the fourth quarter, West halfback Calil Worhtam scored on 45-yard run to make it 35-16.

Still coach Jim Murphy sees a team with potential.

“That is not a good team, that’s a very good team,” Murphy said of West. “Brian Fluck does a great job. I have the highest respect for him.

“We’re building. We’re going to be all right. These are good kids. They work hard in practice and it’s going to click. I can’t tell you when, but it’s going to happen. You could see it in the second half. We came back and kept fighting. We just have a lot of puppies and they have a lot of growing up to do.”

It doesn’t get easier for either team. Next week West Catholic travels to Lansdale to play North Penn in a Friday night game, while Roman hits the road to play Downingtown East in Exton, also on Friday night.