Westfield 21 - Stonewall Jackson 0

[falcettik]

The first half of this game saw a grand total of five possessions between the two teams, and the pace was also moderately quick in the second half. With just a handful of penalties and both teams preferring to run the ball more than throw, there wasn't a whole lot of time for scoring.

Stonewall opened the game on their own 29 yard line and moved all the way to the WF 14, but then SJ's Boxley was intercepted by Steinhilber on the WF 4 yard line to stop the drive. WF ran a few plays but was forced to punt and SJ took over on their own 37 yard line. After a few SJ plays, the first quarter ended scoreless. After the second quarter started SJ did move downfield to the WF 37 yard line but their drive stalled and they were forced to punt, pinning WF on their own 12 yard line. This time, primarily behind the running of Asante, WF marched 88 yards and got the game's first score. WF scored when Kim hit Cirillo with a short pass and Cirillo broke three tackles on the way to a 22 yard score. 7-0, 3:24 to go in the half (Steinhilber XP). SJ then managed a short drive before giving the ball back to WF with just enough time for one unsuccessful play and the half ended with WF ahead 7-0. In the first half WF used the running game almost exclusively, with the few passes they attempted often ending up with a QB sack by the SJ defense or just a short gain on a scramble. SJ relied heavily on Boxley's running ability with a few runs mixed in from Royster, and also tried a few passes to their main target, Howard, but many were off the mark. This same pattern held in the second half for SJ, with Boxley probably taking on 75% of the SJ offense himself.

The second half saw WF with the ball first and they came out throwing, getting to the SJ 44 yard line where they faced a 4th and 10. WF's Kim lined up as the punter and attempted to run for the first down but was stopped well short and SJ took over on their own 40 yard line. SJ went three and out, giving WF the ball on the WF 33 yard line. This time WF put together a 67 yard drive, scoring for the second time in the game when Kim hit Morin on a 22 yard pass to extend the lead to 14-0 (Steinhilber XP) with 4:24 to play in the third quarter. After getting the ball back SJ again went three and out, and WF wasted no time, with Kim hitting Kiley on a 56 yard, one play drive to extend the lead to 21-0 (Steinhilber XP) with 2:03 to play in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was mostly uneventful with both teams putting together three short drives each, combining for two drives ending in punts and three on failed 4th down attempts before WF's last drive reached the SJ 15 yard line and the clock ran out.

 

[LastCavalier]

Good analogy as always falcettik, game was pretty hard to watch, not a great deal of excitement. WF's defense bent but didn't break, their offense was less than impressive in my opinion.

SJ had a few athletes but make no mistake, WF should have handled them easily, they did not. It was only 7-0 at the half, if SJ doesn't turn the ball over on their first drive it might have been 7-7.

WF's offense sputtered primarily due to their O-line play, too many SJ defenders getting into the backfield. I don't remember the exact number but it seemed Kim was sacked several times. There also were numerous times Asante was hit before getting to the line of scrimmage.

Defensively WF played okay, but no consistent push from the D-line. SJ's QB had more time than WF's when he dropped back to pass. WF did do a good job of everyone hustling to the ball but gave up too many yards considering their opponent.

Hopefully the play of WF in this game was due to their opponent and being off last week. Bottom line, if they play the way they did last night against Madison or Centreville, it's not going to be pretty. I know a few might respond that "WF always gets better as the season progresses", but last night was just plain ugly in my opinion.

 

[falcettik]

LastCavalier: "Defensively WF played okay, but no consistent push from the D-line. SJ's QB had more time than WF's when he dropped back to pass."

According to someone who would know, this was by design. The defense was instructed to contain the SJ QB and not to try to get to far up field since that is how Boxley can hurt you.

LastCavalier: "WF's offense sputtered primarily due to their O-line play, too many SJ defenders getting into the backfield."

Cannot argue that point, but this is not an unfamiliar pattern if you have followed WF for a long time. They are integrating 3-4 new lineman and typically the line does not hit their stride until later in the season. Maybe that will happen this year, maybe it won't-we will have to see.

Cannot disagree with what you said, LastCavalier. Still some refinements to make.

 

[BlueFan_rivals484007]

LastCavalier: "Defensively WF played okay, but no consistent push from the D-line. SJ's QB had more time than WF's when he dropped back to pass."

According to someone who would know, this was by design. The defense was instructed to contain the SJ QB and not to try to get to far up field since that is how Boxley can hurt you.

I'm seeing the same thing in the Patriot game. No consistent push from the D-line, and the Patriot QB had all the time to pass, which did hurt Westfield with several big plays. More in the Westfield-Patriot game thread.