Trey Brown stalked off the field, visibly frustrated, yelling at no one in particular. A Westfield drive, a pivotal opportunity to fortify a 14-7 lead before halftime, had just faltered. Westfield had punted, and now Brown was furious.
On the next play, Brown, Westfield’s quarterback and a senior co-captain, lined up at safety for the third time in the game—and the third time in his high school career.
Plainfield quarterback Alameen Watkins whipped a pass over the middle. Brown intercepted it. Quarterback to quarterback. He returned the interception 40 yards to the Plainfield 9-yard line, drawing roars from the crowd of over 1,000.
On the next play, Brown rifled a pass to senior wide receiver Peter Meixner for a pivotal touchdown that sent Westfield into halftime with a 21-7 lead. The two-play sequence sealed Westfield’s dominance in what became a 42-13 romp that raised Westfield to a final record of 8-3.
“I’ve been itching to play safety since sophomore year,” Brown said.
Brown stepped in at safety late in the first quarter. He made a tackle on his first defensive snap of the season and returned moments later for a second defensive play. His next play on defense was the interception.
“He’s a beast,” head coach Jim DeSarno said. “He threw the ball well today. He ran the ball like he always does. He played some defense. I don’t know if there’s much he can’t do on a football field.”
Brown added three passing touchdowns to the interception, one to Meixner and two to sophomore Colin Coyle. Coyle’s first score extended Westfield’s lead to 28-7 midway through the third quarter; his second, a 22-yard touchdown, came right at the end of the quarter.
Senior running back Dylan Wragg carried for Westfield’s first two touchdowns. Junior backup quarterback Max Cho scored the game’s final touchdown on a 28-yard scamper.
Westfield planned to exploit Plainfield in the running game, DeSarno said, and the Blue Devils fulfilled that prophecy. The running game has been Westfield’s forte all season. The bruising combination of Wragg and Brown has battered opposing defenses behind a stout offensive line.
“The line’s played better all year,” Brown said. “They’ve stepped it up each game.”
Amid the chorus of Blue Devil touchdowns, the rigid Westfield defense repelled the Cardinals’ attempts to mount a comeback. The dynamic Plainfield offense—which in its prior four games had posted 54, 40, 40 and 48 points—operated an efficient passing game. The Cardinals nearly scored a long touchdown early in the second quarter, but the ball skipped off an open receiver’s hands.
“We just tried to stop the big plays,” senior linebacker Daniel Hanlon said. “[Plainfield is] an explosive team, a one-play touchdown kind of team. They don’t really drive the ball down the field.”
Westfield rolled to its 10th straight Thanksgiving Day victory against Plainfield. The win, in the annual game’s 117th playing, improved Westfield’s all-time series lead to 65-45-7.
Plainfield, which won the North, Group 5 Regional Invitational Tournament (a new consolation tournament comparable to college basketball’s NIT), entered as the obvious underdog to Westfield, which exited the North 1, Group 5 sectional tournament in the semifinal round.
“Obviously we’d love to be playing a more meaningful game at the end of the year,” DeSarno said. “But coming off the two seasons that we’ve had, two losing seasons, it was a nice turnaround.”
A nice turnaround, and a nice day for football. The last crinkled leaves clung to mostly bare trees. The temperature hovered comfortably in the low 50s, a gentle breeze swirling beneath a pristine blue sky.
Fans filtered in throughout the first half, gradually filling the stands, and then filtered out midway through the second half as the blowout progressed. Alumni dotted the crowd; a contingent of former football players watched from the edge of the turf.
The opposite stands rattled with exuberance, too. Minutes before kickoff, a nearly imperceptible rumble began from behind the Plainfield stands. The noise slowly mounted, crystallizing into the telltale signs of an animated high school marching band. In they marched, feet pumping in unison, drums beating, hips swaying.
Both bands maintained their energy throughout the game, crafting a lively soundtrack to a beautiful day.
More than anything, though, the game was fun. Fun for the players, fun for the coaches, fun for the parents, fun for the fans. Low-stakes football on a great day.
“All I wanted to do was lay down a few boomsticks,” said a smiling Luke Jordan, who did just that, making some crucial tackles.
“This is a game we play every year,” DeSarno said. “You want to go out with a win.”
Westfield did.
