Rushing for three touchdowns and about 200 yards, Dylan Wragg was the decisive factor in Westfield’s blowout win against bitter rival Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 30-0. This was the first meeting since 2017 between SPF and Westfield, and perhaps SPF would have wanted to wait another year before playing Westfield’s 2022-23 football team.
SPF started the game with the ball on its own 33-yard line and made it clear that it wanted to be effective on third downs. On the opening drive, SPF converted three third downs in a row to get to the red zone. After failing to convert a 3rd and 11, they opted to go for it on fourth down as opposed to taking the surefire points. On a 4th and 2, SPF went into the wildcat formation, but was stuffed short of the line to gain, turning the ball over on downs.
The Blue Devils took over at their own 8-yard line and had a big run by Wragg to convert a 3rd and short. The Blue Devils would punt on the possession, giving the ball back to SPF with 11:03 left in the half.
After a big sack from Brandon Love, the stout Westfield defense forced yet another punt. Westfield received the punt and opted to use a fair catch. On their second drive, the Blue Devils made clear their intention to run the football. On the first play of the drive, Wragg bursted off for a 13-yard gain. After a short passing play, Wragg broke off again for a huge 46-yard run, bringing Westfield down to the 3-yard line. On the ensuing play, Wragg capped the drive with a touchdown run with 7:57 to go in the half.
After the touchdown, the defense was fired up, forcing a three-and-out. The Blue Devils got the ball back with 6:22 remaining in the half, with the ball on their own 46. “Running the ball behind my offensive line each and every play is [motivating] on its own,” said Wragg. This seemed to explain his running style, as Wragg immediately bursted for a 20-yard gain, putting him over 100 yards before the half was even over. Trey Brown then passed the ball to Cary Pritchett, getting Westfield inside of the 5-yard line. After a false start moved Westfield back to the 9-yard line, Westfield scored again on a rushing touchdown, with who else, but Wragg. Westfield led 14-0 as the half concluded.
Going into the third quarter, the Blue Devils were hungry to add to their lead. Fortunately, an illegal kick out of bounds set up the Blue Devils with incredible field position to kick off their first drive of the second half. Wragg picked up right where he left off and was fed the rock five times for more than 50 total yards, including a 17-yard touchdown to cap off the drive and extend the lead to 21-0.
The Raiders were unable to light a spark offensively; however, after converting a 3rd and 25 followed by a roughing the passer penalty call against Westfield, the Raiders were in business. But Westfield’s defense maintained its composure and forced another turnover on downs.
After another stout defensive possession for the Blue Devils, the Raiders were backed up and were forced to punt out of their own endzone with under a minute remaining in the quarter. An errant snap by the Raiders’ long snapper forced the ball out of the endzone, and the Blue Devils were able to get a safety and add an additional two points on the scoreboard.
The fourth quarter opened up with two key quarterback power runs by Brown, who was able to navigate through the Raiders defense amid substantial blocking from the big fellas up front. Love, who also starts on the offensive line, acknowledged that everything for the Blue Devils starts up front and the linemen on both sides of the ball were able to dominate.
Running back Aidan Harper was able to finish off the drive and place the cherry on top with a 5-yard rushing touchdown, and the Blue Devils were on their way to their third straight victory. Coming into the game, SPF had not defeated Westfield since 2012, and that drought continued as the Blue Devils thrashed the Raiders.
Speaking of the impressive run game, head coach Jim DeSarno said, “When you are running the ball successfully, you control the clock and you control field position.”
Since winning its first game of the season, SPF has yet to be victorious again as they drop to 1-4. On the other hand, Westfield aims to increase its winning streak to four games as it takes on St. Joseph Metuchen on Oct. 1 at home.
With the new coaching staff and a new style of football at St. Joseph, DeSarno said Westfield has a lot of preparation to do in order to defeat the 3-1 Falcons and potentially conquer the division title.
