The New York City skyline lit up the six-floor stadium, making this matchup between Westfield and Union City the ultimate Friday night lights game. Westfield was extremely inexperienced against Union City as the last time these two teams played was in the first round of the sectional tournament during the 2018-19 season.
The start of the game was a clear drag for both teams as Westfield and Union City battled back and forth using their tough defenses. Neither team could establish a firm offensive rhythm. However, this would only be a temporary problem for the Blue Devils, as they were able to gain momentum at the end of the first quarter. The Blue Devil defense came to play as they made a huge stop on the Eagles’ fourth-down attempt near the middle of the field.
Westfield was then able to put together a nice drive in which running back Dylan Wragg and co-captain quarterback Trey Brown marched the offense down the field to get near the red zone. This proved to be a turning point in this game as it showed that Westfield was willing to fight and refuse to back down.
Evidently, this would be a recurring theme for the Blue Devils, as Wragg and Brown were running all over the Eagles’ defense. Their offensive contributions totaled 278 yards in the game.
Westfield settled for a field goal attempt from around 25 yards, but unfortunately, the Eagles blocked the attempted field goal, which would keep the game scoreless at the end of the first quarter.
Westfield went three and out to start the second quarter. Westfield’s weak punt didn’t do much justice either as Union City was able to capitalize on its good field position with a 38-yard rushing touchdown. The Blue Devils were aware that the Eagles would be running the ball for most of the game as they only had four passing completions throughout the season.
“Coming into the game we knew Union City was going to try and run it down our throats so our plan was to stack the box and find some flaws in their game. Unfortunately, they were able to break the line which allowed for two 40+ yard touchdowns,” said senior defensive end Sergio Cabrera.
Limiting the Eagles’ running game was an issue for the Blue Devils, as Union City was able to score again on its next possession on a 29-yard rushing touchdown.
After giving up 14 straight points, Westfield was finally starting to gain some momentum back as they were able to drive down the field with completions to Wragg and senior wide receiver Peter Meixner. After advancing the ball past the 50-yard line, Westfield had to move quickly as there was not much time left on the clock before halftime.
Brown was able to run the ball for around 20 yards and quickly step out with only five seconds remaining in the half. The Blue Devils then decided to go for a touchdown rather than kicking a field goal, but this plan backfired as Brown got sacked leading to the end of the half with a score of 14-0 Union City.
Whatever was said in the Blue Devils locker room clearly made an impact on the players as Westfield came out looking much stronger to start off the second half. Spotlight plays made by Wragg and senior wide receiver Alex Tilyou gave the Blue Devils an offensive advantage. Wragg was making perfect reads through the defense and scooping up rushing yards to move the Blue Devils into the red zone only two minutes into the half.
After three straight rushing attempts from Brown on the goal line, the Blue Devils were unable to connect and Union City forced a crucial turnover on their own 5-yard line. Shortly after, on the first set of downs, Eagles running back Mark Boyd broke through the defense and made a cut to the left side which resulted in an impressive 90-yard touchdown, his third rushing touchdown of the game, pushing Union City ahead on the scoreboard 20-0.
Wragg was all over the field as he was leading the Westfield offense. Wragg ran for an outstanding 50 yards in two plays taking the Blue Devils to the 18-yard line. Not much later, Brown was able to find Meixner on a screen who made a nice cut to the right side of the field to score from the 17-yard line. This Meixner touchdown was massive for the Blue Devils because it gave Westfield some life with a score of 20-7.
“The touchdown gave us a lot of momentum offensively,” said Meixner. “Our defense had been doing their thing the entire game and it was nice to see the offense put some points on the board. There was a spark of energy for the whole team.”
Due to Westfield’s quick score, plenty of time was left on the clock for a Blue Devil comeback as they only wasted two minutes of the third quarter. However, the remainder of the third quarter was stagnant and both teams were playing fantastic defense in the fourth quarter, as each team struggled to pick up first downs. Union City was eventually able to drive the ball down the field through their run game and started to run the clock out.
However, a penalty slowed their drive down and forced the Eagles to punt the ball back to the Blue Devils with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brown was giving it all he had with three straight rushes and two passes to Meixner, pushing Westfield down to the Eagles’ 1-yard line. Westfield used a QB sneak and Brown ran up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown, making the score 20-14 Eagles with three minutes left in the fourth.
The Blue Devils’ defense continued to be phenomenal in the fourth quarter as they forced the Eagles to punt from their own 20-yard line. This gave Westfield a chance to tie up the game and secure the comeback Blue Devil fans dreamed about.
The punt put Westfield in awful field position as it landed on their own 15-yard line with around two minutes to go in the game. Westfield tried to move the ball in which they were able to get one first down but ultimately fell short as they were unable to get the passing game going on the last drive.
Union City ran out the clock, resulting in a 20-14 win.
“This season has set the tone for the underclassmen. They now see what it’s like to win and be a part of the great family that we have,” said senior co-captain Owen Shakal. “They will continue to work hard for upcoming years because they now know getting kicked out of the playoffs is not a good feeling.”
The Blue Devils face Plainfield on Thanksgiving Day for their final game of the 2022-23 season.
