After taking a 31-3 beatdown last week at Ridge, the Blue Devils returned to Gary Kehler Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to face Hillsborough in their last regular season game before the state playoffs.
The game started with a classic Blue Devil possession, marching up the field in no hurry, led by the running of quarterback Trey Brown and star running back Dylan Wragg. That opening drive took almost 10 minutes off the clock and resulted in a Brown rushing touchdown from the 1-yard line.
“The offense was awesome,” senior linebacker Jack O’Connor said. “They did their job by taking plenty of time off the clock and were almost perfect scoring.”
On Hillsborough’s first offensive drive, the defense also did its job. On a key third-down, Julian Montez sacked Raider quarterback Alex Reiling, which forced a punt.
O’Connor said the lessons that came from last week’s loss were to “play harder, faster, and with more confidence,” which is certainly what happened after the punt. Almost immediately after getting the ball back, Brown connected with Peter Del Re on a 48-yard strike downfield and into the endzone to put Westfield up by two touchdowns halfway through the second quarter.
After Brown’s beautiful pass, he trotted off to the sideline, where he told his teammates, “Let’s keep it going.”
The game reached halftime with Westfield up 14-7 after the Raiders made their way down the field and scored on a 6-yard touchdown through the air.
The third quarter began in a much slower fashion, with three straight possessions turning into punts, but just before the game reached the final quarter, Henry Hipschman nailed a 24-yard field goal to give Westfield a 17-7 lead. Hillsborough responded with a field goal of its own with just under seven minutes remaining in the game.
Late in the fourth quarter, the energy intensified. Down by a touchdown, Hillsborough had a first down from the Westfield 8-yard line, but the Blue Devil defense stood tall, shutting down Hillsborough on four consecutive plays and forcing a turnover on downs.
Taking over from his own 1-yard line with 23 seconds left, there was no room for Brown to kneel out the clock, so instead he ran up the middle on three straight quarterback sneaks, setting up a 4th and 5. Lined up in punt formation, Wragg took the snap, ran around the endzone as he burned as much clock as possible, then walked out of bounds, taking a safety with two seconds left.
The Blue Devils had an opportunity to milk the clock down to zero with a squib kick, but the free kick trickled off the tee, going nowhere, and Hillsborough had a golden opportunity. Down by five, 21 yards from the endzone, one play. Reiling launched the ball to the endzone and every Westfield fan’s eyes followed the ball through the air. It was batted down by several defenders and the Blue Devils escaped with a 17-12 victory.
“That final play took grit and guts,” O’Connor said, “It really tested how tough we are.”
With the win, Westfield improves to 6-2. With just one scheduled game remaining (the annual Thanksgiving matchup against Plainfield), the Blue Devils will await their North Jersey Section 1, Group 5 playoff seed and matchup.
