Westfield's defense was very good again and the offense played arguably their best game of the season, but a few penalties kept WF from scoring even more. Throw in some motivation after what I will politely call an unsportsmanlike coaching decision late in the WF-SL freshman game on Thursday and it made for a strong performance in a 40-13 win over South Lakes.
SL opened the game on their own 26 yard line, lost yards, and punted. WF had good field position at the WF 45 yard line and on the first play Carlson found Lee along the home sideline for a 32 yard pass to the SL 13 yard line before the drive stalled and WF settled for a 28 yard Batchala FG to open the scoring at the 7:28 mark, 3-0. SL's next possession netted a few yards before they were forced to punt. WF's Cardenas returned the kick 40 yards but a holding call pushed WF back to near midfield. After a Lee 19 yard run to the SL 28 yard line, WF stalled again and a 41 yard Batchala FG was wide. SL then went 80 yards, capped by a 68 yard Wyatt to Zarechnak passing TD to give SL the lead at 7-3 (Bertoni XP) with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter. WF then drove 64 yards and retook the lead on a one yard Carlson run at 9-7, (Batchala XP missed) with 8:20 remaining in the half. SL went three and out on their next possession but WF muffed the punt and SL recovered on the WF 41 yard line. Facing 4th and four at the WF 35 yard line Wyatt's pass fell incomplete and SL turned the ball over on downs. WF then drove 65 yards for another score, this time a 63 yard Carlson to Lee pass when Lee outran the defense and WF extended the lead to 16-7 (Batchala XP) with 4:28 to go in the half. After good WF KO coverage saw SL start at their own 18 yard line, a long SL scramble to the 30 was negated by a holding call and SL was pushed back to their own nine yard line. WF's Lee then intercepted Wyatt on the SL 36 yard line but WF stalled again and settled for a 28 yard Batchala FG to go up 19-7 with 3 seconds left in the half.
WF received the second half KO and punted after three plays to give SL the ball just over midfield. On this SL drive WF's Kiley eventually intercepted SL's Wyatt on the WF 30 yard line but the addition of a personal foul penalty on SL moved the ball to the SL 47 yard line. WF capped this 53 yard drive with a five yard Southerland run to widen their lead to 26-7 (Batchala XP) with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter. On the ensuing KO SL's Picarelli took the ball back 44 yards to the SL 45 yard line, then Wyatt found Picarelli for a 29 yard gain to the WF 26 yard line. However, two consecutive holding calls on SL found them pushed back to near midfield and they ended up punting. On the punt WF's Caradenas returned the ball 85 yards for a TD - but a holding call with an added unsportsmanlike penalty for celebrating negated the run and WF found themselves pinned deep at their own six yard line. WF then used four big plays (29 yard and 13 yard Johnson runs, a 24 yard pass to Merritt-Clinton, and a 32 yard pass to Gay-Johnson) mixed in with two penalties to drive deep into SL territory. WF's Carlson then found Lee with a 13 yard TD pass and the WF lead reached 33-7 (Batchala XP) with 7:48 remaining in the game. SL then drove 80 yards, their best drive of the night, using a Wyatt to Picarelli seven yard TD pass to cut the lead to 33-13 (Cardenas blocked Bertoni's XP) with about four minutes remaining in the game. WF then started at their own 20 yard line and after a few plays WF's Southerland ran off tackle for 70 yards for the game's final score with 2:28 left in the game. After Batchala's XP it was 40-13 WF and the game ended with a SL turnover on downs near the WF 25 yard line that allowed WF to run out the clock.
SL opened the game on their own 26 yard line, lost yards, and punted. WF had good field position at the WF 45 yard line and on the first play Carlson found Lee along the home sideline for a 32 yard pass to the SL 13 yard line before the drive stalled and WF settled for a 28 yard Batchala FG to open the scoring at the 7:28 mark, 3-0. SL's next possession netted a few yards before they were forced to punt. WF's Cardenas returned the kick 40 yards but a holding call pushed WF back to near midfield. After a Lee 19 yard run to the SL 28 yard line, WF stalled again and a 41 yard Batchala FG was wide. SL then went 80 yards, capped by a 68 yard Wyatt to Zarechnak passing TD to give SL the lead at 7-3 (Bertoni XP) with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter. WF then drove 64 yards and retook the lead on a one yard Carlson run at 9-7, (Batchala XP missed) with 8:20 remaining in the half. SL went three and out on their next possession but WF muffed the punt and SL recovered on the WF 41 yard line. Facing 4th and four at the WF 35 yard line Wyatt's pass fell incomplete and SL turned the ball over on downs. WF then drove 65 yards for another score, this time a 63 yard Carlson to Lee pass when Lee outran the defense and WF extended the lead to 16-7 (Batchala XP) with 4:28 to go in the half. After good WF KO coverage saw SL start at their own 18 yard line, a long SL scramble to the 30 was negated by a holding call and SL was pushed back to their own nine yard line. WF's Lee then intercepted Wyatt on the SL 36 yard line but WF stalled again and settled for a 28 yard Batchala FG to go up 19-7 with 3 seconds left in the half.
WF received the second half KO and punted after three plays to give SL the ball just over midfield. On this SL drive WF's Kiley eventually intercepted SL's Wyatt on the WF 30 yard line but the addition of a personal foul penalty on SL moved the ball to the SL 47 yard line. WF capped this 53 yard drive with a five yard Southerland run to widen their lead to 26-7 (Batchala XP) with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter. On the ensuing KO SL's Picarelli took the ball back 44 yards to the SL 45 yard line, then Wyatt found Picarelli for a 29 yard gain to the WF 26 yard line. However, two consecutive holding calls on SL found them pushed back to near midfield and they ended up punting. On the punt WF's Caradenas returned the ball 85 yards for a TD - but a holding call with an added unsportsmanlike penalty for celebrating negated the run and WF found themselves pinned deep at their own six yard line. WF then used four big plays (29 yard and 13 yard Johnson runs, a 24 yard pass to Merritt-Clinton, and a 32 yard pass to Gay-Johnson) mixed in with two penalties to drive deep into SL territory. WF's Carlson then found Lee with a 13 yard TD pass and the WF lead reached 33-7 (Batchala XP) with 7:48 remaining in the game. SL then drove 80 yards, their best drive of the night, using a Wyatt to Picarelli seven yard TD pass to cut the lead to 33-13 (Cardenas blocked Bertoni's XP) with about four minutes remaining in the game. WF then started at their own 20 yard line and after a few plays WF's Southerland ran off tackle for 70 yards for the game's final score with 2:28 left in the game. After Batchala's XP it was 40-13 WF and the game ended with a SL turnover on downs near the WF 25 yard line that allowed WF to run out the clock.