Only three minutes into the matchup, New Providence broke down Westfield’s defense, putting the Blue Devils down by one early on. While this was unexpected for the Blue Devils, they kept their composure and tied it up within a minute. The Blue Devils would eventually run away with an impressive 21-7 win against New Providence on their senior day.
At the end of the first quarter, the Blue Devils led 5-2. However, it was during the second quarter that Westfield made their statement and pulled away to an 11-4 lead at the end of the first half.
One special aspect of the game was the celebration of the seniors. Each year, the Blue Devils thank the senior class for their dedication and hard work. This game highlighted how special this senior class was, and fittingly, 17 out of the 21 total goals were scored from different seniors across the board.
Senior Garrett Ferguson stuck out with an impressive five goals, also reaching the milestone of his 100th career goal. Ferguson said, “Most of my goals were off my teammates, so I give a lot of praise to them for finding me at the right times.”
Coming into this game, the Blue Devils were fresh off two of their hardest matchups of the season. Winning to Ridgewood in overtime and losing to Delbarton, so a blowout win like this was brewing for the Blue Devils.
“After our last few games we had to break down what we were doing offensively because it wasn’t working. So, we had a long talk in the locker room yesterday after watching film, and today it really showed that hard work pays off,” said senior quad-captain Christian Gilford.
Although the rainy atmosphere was not exactly what the Blue Devils had hoped for on their senior day, such a fun and dominant win speaks to the importance of this senior class. “This was a very tight group coming in as freshmen, and we won a state championship together last year. You can just see on and off the field, they really play for each other,” said head coach William Wertheimer.
“A win like this sends a message to the county. [A score of] 21-7 is a pretty big win and last year we had a close game with this team so it felt good to stomp on them this time,” Gilford said.
The Blue Devils are back in action away at 4:45 p.m. on Monday against Wall. They are looking to start a winning streak and improve their record to 9-3. Ferguson said, “Even with a win like this we still have a lot of work to do.”
