The St. Joe’s Falcons burst through an inflated green helmet and a haze of smoke, ready to attack the Blue Devils under the Friday night lights. St. Joe’s student section, dressed in all white, roared as the sun set. Westfield matched them in grit, but was unable to overcome the power of St. Joe’s transfers, which allowed the undefeated Falcons to dominate the Blue Devils 24-0.
It was a tough loss for Westfield, as they failed to capitalize on the momentum from a 21-0 win against Union last weekend. Going into the game, Westfield knew it was going to be a tough fight. “They’re a top 20 team. They had some transfer kids come back this week that are some of the best kids in the country,” said Head coach Matthew Andzel. Senior Joseph DiMattina agreed and said, “We knew they had a couple of big hitters on their team. Our goal was to try to stop them at the line, minimize damage, and minimize their run game.”
In the end, Westfield was unable to push through St. Joe’s defensive line, which included Tennessee football commit CJ Edwards.
The task of beating a top 20 team seemed daunting, but Westfield maintained a positive mindset. “We went in playing to win and were ready to throw punches,” said Andzel. The Westfield defense tried to hold off the Falcons, but Westfield’s offense allowed multiple turnovers and a pick in the third quarter. “We did very well at the beginning, and from there, we were tailing off a bit, but we still showed great effort,” said DiMattina.
Even with the upsetting end result, Westfield players gave it their all throughout the game. “Jake Zemsky played his heart out on the defensive line,” said Andzel. Other players like junior Jordan Walsh and senior Luke Spaide also had a visible impact on the field, putting up a fight against St. Joe’s solid offensive and defensive lines.
Although the 24-0 loss was disappointing for the Blue Devils, they hope to improve their 2-3 record at Kehler next Saturday against Hillsborough at 2:00 p.m. “Our mindset is to just bounce back, kind of like baseball, we just have to be ready for the next swing or next pitch because we’ve got a very winnable game,” said DiMattina.
“Obviously, we work hard and practice all week, but we have to come out and perform and execute and we didn’t do that tonight. It’s got to be better next week,” said Walsh.
