Hillsborough was not messing around when it came to their homecoming matchup with Westfield. There were flashing lights, a mobbing Hillsborough student section, a giddy band and marching team, and raving cheerleaders. Westfield entered the field surging with energy, feeding off of their opponent’s environment.
Coming off of a tough loss last week against Saint Joseph’s, the Blue Devils looked to gain redemption. Going into the game, they looked to fix small mistakes from previous games, and in replacement of senior Enzo Ferraro, Westfield’s injured star receiver, head coach Matt Andzel said, “Everybody has to play better to make up for Enzo’s loss.”
The Blue Devils put up a tough fight, especially in the fourth quarter, however, they were unfortunately topped again by the Raiders 13-19.
The first quarter started slow with both teams unable to find their momentum. The game was back and forth until an energy shift in the second quarter. The Raiders broke the drought with a touchdown eight minutes into the second quarter. The Blue Devils immediately responded with a streaking touchdown from senior Blake Rudow with two minutes remaining in the half.
Most of the third quarter was slow as well, until Hillsborough’s second touchdown came with 13 seconds left in the quarter. Then the Raiders struck again early in the fourth quarter, making the score 7-19.
These back-to-back touchdowns lit a fire within the Blue Devils going into the last quarter of the game. Westfield gained momentum and intensity as their offense put their bodies on the line, slowly making their way down the field. Senior Colin Coyle was able to convert a touchdown giving the Blue Devils some hope, shrinking the score gap to 13-19. Senior Nick Russo said, “We played really hard, given the fact that we were down 7-19.”
Westfield came up short in the end, unable to put up more points. Andzel said, “They made more plays in crucial moments while we made more mistakes in those moments.”
Senior Sebby Magherini was the face of intensity for the Blue Devils, fighting hard on both offense and defense throughout the whole game. He had a big role to step into today and executed it well, however, Magherini said, “There were a lot of stupid mistakes and we let too many guys get by us.”
The Blue Devils are back in action at home this Thursday against North Brunswick. Looking into this week and the rest of the season, Senior Nick Russo said, “Win. We need to win.”
