The massive inflatable orange helmet—Somerville’s version of the tunnel players run out of before a game—crumpled midway through the second quarter. Slowly, it folded backward over the fence behind it, until it lay there, deformed and listless.
It was an apt metaphor.
Westfield dismantled Somerville steadily, squeezing the life from the Pioneers like a snake slowly winding around its prey. By halftime, the Pioneers’ heads, like the inflatable helmet, drooped.
When the Blue Devils finally relented, it was 37-0. Westfield secured its fifth consecutive win, boosting its record to 5-1 after clinching the Big Central – American Gold conference title with last week’s win over St. Joseph (Metuchen).
The shutout was Westfield’s second of the year. The Blue Devils commanded the line and thwarted Somerville’s dynamic passing game. “We knew they wanted to pass,” said senior co-captain and defensive stalwart Jack O’Connor. “Excellent job from the secondary.”
While the Westfield defense was smothering Somerville’s passing game, the offense was tearing holes in the Pioneers. Late in the first quarter, on a play from Westfield’s 24-yard line, senior quarterback and co-captain Trey Brown sidestepped a defender, spotted junior wide receiver Peter Del Re shaking off his defender, and launched the ball downfield.
The pass hit Del Re perfectly in stride. He hauled it in just past midfield and sprinted, untouched, for a scintillating touchdown. It was one of Brown’s best throws of the season, and it blew the lid off the game.
“We knew that we [had] to step up throwing the ball,” Brown said. “We really just focused on fundamentals all week.”
Powered by unwavering defense and the feeble leg of Somerville’s punter, Westfield began many a possession with excellent field position. Westfield’s second touchdown drive started in Somerville territory, and the Blue Devils deployed their bruising running game to march to the brink. Senior running back Dylan Wragg finished off the drive from the 5-yard line.
At halftime, Westfield led, 17-0, after the pair of touchdowns and a 25-yard Henry Hipschman field goal.
For the Pioneers, the red zone was a foreign, faraway land. The Somerville quarterback screamed expletives at his teammates, trying to jolt them awake. He was unsuccessful.
The shellacking intensified in the second half. Wragg danced into the end zone early in the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-0. On Somerville’s next possession, senior Quinn Wojcik jumped in front of a pass and took the ball 30 yards the other way for a touchdown.
“Our defense was on point right from the beginning,” head coach Jim DeSarno said. Every play, when the Somerville center snapped the ball, the Westfield line gushed forward like water from an open dam.
“I think we’re the best defense in New Jersey,” O’Connor said.
Aidan Harper scored Westfield’s final touchdown with a few minutes left in the game, bursting through the line and walking into the end zone.
Two hardy volunteers had spent much of the game propping up the inflatable orange helmet. Right after the third touchdown, the helmet sagged again. This time, it fell forward, collapsing inward on itself. The volunteers carried out another round of surgery.
Moments later, the inflatable—and its handlers—capitulated. The Somerville football team followed suit.
1 comment
Truly impeccable writing and great use of vocabulary, loved the metaphor the sagging helmet, a class article from Liebs.