It started with a whimper. It ended with a bang.
Nearly three months after Westfield opened its season by stumbling to a dispiriting 17-7 loss to Watchung Hills, the Blue Devils capped the season by breezing past Plainfield, 42-13, on Thanksgiving Day.
With the win, Westfield finished 8-3, ending a year in which it won the Big Central – American Gold conference title, went undefeated at home and returned a historically dominant program to prominence after two losing seasons. The Thanksgiving Day game arrived three weeks after No. 2 seed Union City eliminated No. 3 seed Westfield in the North 1, Group 5 sectional semifinals.
“Obviously we’d love to be playing a more meaningful game at the end of the year,” head coach Jim DeSarno said after Thursday’s game. “But coming off the two seasons that we’ve had, two losing seasons, [this season] was a nice turnaround.”
Milestones dotted the season. Westfield defeated Union for the first time since 2017, made the sectional semifinals for the first time since 2019 and, with 38 points in the first half against Elizabeth, posted its highest single-half points total since 2016.
The Blue Devils’ offensive success derived from a machine-like running game. Westfield’s offense was predicated on moving the ball on the ground, chugging ahead behind a resolute offensive line. Senior running back Dylan Wragg led Westfield in rushing yards, racking up 1,192 yards on 214 carries and scoring 11 TDs in the process. Senior quarterback and co-captain Trey Brown added 875 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs.
The run game, throughout the season, was perhaps DeSarno’s favorite topic in postgame interviews. “We want to run the ball,” he said, simply, in the gloomy aftermath of the season-opening loss.
So the coaches tweaked, and the players listened, and the next week all three Westfield TDs arrived on the ground in a vital 21-14 win against Union. Then came a 38-20 dismantling of Elizabeth, in which Westfield entered halftime leading, 38-0, before relenting in the second half.
Another powerful display followed. Westfield demolished Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 30-0, thrusting the defense into the spotlight. Led by senior co-captains Jack O’Connor (an Ithaca College commit), Brandon Love (a two-way player) and Owen Shakal, the Blue Devils shuttered opposing passing games and, for the most part, hobbled opposing running games.
That was certainly the case the week after the Scotch Plains game, against St. Joseph (Metuchen). On a soggy day at Gary Kehler Stadium, Westfield fell behind, 10-0, the offense sputtering. The defense repeatedly repelled St. Joe’s, allowing the Blue Devils to claw back into the game and win, 14-10, on a late 35-yard touchdown pass.
The next week, Westfield resumed its rhythm of blowouts, demolishing Somerville, 37-0. The win clinched the conference title.
And so it was that Westfield descended on Ridge with a 5-1 record, a steaming train of momentum, and designs on spoiling Ridge’s senior night.
Ridge crushed Westfield. Utterly. Miserably. Emphatically.
Westfield limped home with a 31-3 loss.
Senior kicker Henry Hipschman scored Westfield’s lone points, drilling a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter. On the year, the dependable Hipschman went 37-38 on extra points and 3-5 on field goals.
Westfield returned home after the Ridge humbling to face Hillsborough. In a tight game that included a mighty goal-line stand, a failed squib kick and a nail-biting finish, Westfield prevailed, 17-12. The win clinched the Blue Devils the No. 3 seed in the North 1, Group 5 sectional tournament.
That set up a date with No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan, the former rival that Westfield defeated in three consecutive state title games from 2015-17. The Blue Devils hammered the Panthers, 28-7, recovering from a wobbly start to advance to the sectional semifinals. There, Westfield traveled to Union City’s Roosevelt Stadium, which sits perched atop the high school. Union City charged out to a 20-0 lead. Westfield hung on the ropes. The Blue Devils fought back from the dead, reaching 20-14, but ran out of time and lost.
That left just the Thanksgiving Day game, which went perfectly to script. Westfield eviscerated Plainfield for its 10th straight Thanksgiving win over the Cardinals.
And with that, the season was over, the locker room emptied, the pads returned to the trainers.
“I knew this was my last chance to play with our boys,” Brown said after the Thanksgiving Day game. “And the thing about the group, I feel like, this year why we’re so successful was we’ve loved each other.”
There is now some time to reflect, of course, some time for the players and the coaches to appreciate what DeSarno labeled a “successful season.” But soon, as always in sports, the conversation will turn to the next year, the next team, the next opportunity.
“This is a good senior class,” DeSarno said. “What I like is they set a really good example for our younger guys, and it’s their job now to do the work in the offseason. We like the kids that are coming back.”
