In a game marked by pouring rain and overcast skies, Saint Joseph Metuchen was able to dominate Westfield, despite the conditions, clinching a 35-16 win on Saturday.
The Blue Devils started the game strong, however, Saint Joe’s found their stride and maintained their momentum throughout the majority of the game. On the first drive of the game, junior quarterback Cole Weidler successfully found his senior teammates, Sebby Magherini and Enzo Ferraro, to gain early yards. These completed passes put Westfield in field goal range, where Ferraro was able to put the Blue Devils on the board.
With Westfield leading 3-0 going into the second quarter, Saint Joes rapidly turned the tide of the game. The Falcons streaked 60 yards down the field scoring their first touchdown of the game 2 minutes into the second quarter. Shortly after, the Falcons rushed another 75-yard touchdown, which was quickly followed by Weidler’s interception, leading Saint Joes to score their third touchdown of the second quarter. The Falcons lead 21-3 at the end of the first half.
The Blue Devils were feeling defeated for two reasons; the obvious wide score gap, and their star wide receiver Ferraro getting injured. Ferraro fell after making a catch and ended up breaking his collarbone, and will now be out for the foreseeable future. Head coach Matt Andzel said, “Now we have to think about being a more balanced team instead of relying on a couple of really talented players.”
The Falcons continued pushing in the third quarter with two more touchdowns with no points against them from Westfield. In the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils stepped up and found a late surge of energy. The first touchdown came from sophomore Jordan Walsh with an 81-yard run, who had also been named one of the weekly captains. He said, “It was a great honor to be named as a captain but it obviously doesn’t feel great when you lose. We just have to keep getting better every week.”
Junior Luca Blasi rushed the Blue Devils second touchdown in the last seconds of the game to make the final score 16-35 Saint Joes. Senior captain Zac Wragg said, “We beat ourselves today. I don’t think Saint Joes was a much better team than us, we just let ourselves down.”
The Blue Devils hope to redeem themselves next Friday away against Hillsborough at 7 p.m. Moving forward Wragg said, “I think we need to just play with more synchrony overall, today’s loss was a team effort and every single player on the field needs to pick it up.”
