The football team came into this season ready to take on a championship level team in Philipsburg in what would be Matt Andzel’s first game as head coach since taking over for former head coach Jim DeSarno who became the new athletic director. This game showed the team that they had work to do throughout the season as they fell to Phillipsburg 44-17.
“It showed us how far away we were,” Andzel said. “That was the low point they responded from.” This sent an early message to the team about the work they had to put in going forward.
Westfield responded quickly by taking two wins against Elizabeth and Union. This was a quick resurgence that benefited the morale of the players on this team. Junior Jake Zemsky said, “We came back in week 2 with a great win against Elizabeth that would set the tone for the rest of the season.”
Even with the momentum starting to go in their favor the team took two tough losses to St. Joseph and Hillsboro which, similar to Phillipsburg, seemed to hit players hard. Despite going 2-3 with both losses not being taken lightly, history seemed to repeat itself for the Blue Devils as they went on to win their next two following the losses.
Looking back at this moment from midseason senior co-captain Jack Martin said, “After our devastating loss to Hillsboro we responded by coming together and winning two really tough games in a row against North Brunswick and Bridgewater.”
The win against North Brunswick was one that was enjoyed heavily by the whole team and was stapled by their success in the run game. “My personal highlight of the year came in our game against North Brunswick when we ran middle all the way down the field to ice the game,” Martin said.
Martin, who plays right tackle for the Blue Devils, helped pave the way for senior Blake Rudow’s 117 yard game in a 21-13 Blue Devil victory which was the start of another two game win streak.
After a win vs Bridgewater-Rartian and a loss to Ridge the team prepared for the quarterfinal round of the North 2 Group 5 Sectional Tournament. Westfield came into this game as the six seed and was matched up with the three seeded Northern Highlands. Despite an up and down season the team fell to Northern Highlands 21-0 eliminating them from the tournament.
However, one of the most important games was yet to come. On Thanksgiving Day, the team suited up one last time to play in the annual Thanksgiving game vs Plainfield. This game held a high for Zemsky who said, “My personal highlight from this season was returning a fumbled ball caused by Lincoln Meyers in the thanksgiving game 55 yards for a touchdown.”
Despite this big play Westfield would end the season with a tough 14-9 loss to Plainfield giving them a 5-6 record for the season. Andzel said, “That one hurt [Thanksgiving loss to Plainfield] because we got outplayed on our home turf and we just didn’t play that well.”
The team will look to bounce back next year and for younger players to step up with a total of 19 seniors finishing their blue devil careers. Zemskey said, “This team’s outlook on next season is to dominate the offseason so we can ensure success in the season. Games are won in the weight room. We have a lot of young guys that need to step up next season.”
As for the seniors who have played their last Westfield snaps and look ahead to what is next, Martin said, “I played every second of every play and left nothing on the field.”
