After a fairly even first half Westfield used two huge plays and shut down defense to pull away from a good Madison Warhawk team and secure a spot in next week's regional final with a 31-13 victory.
Westfield received the ball to start the game and went three and out. After getting the ball on their own 14 yard line, Madison's Thomas went 83 yards on the second play of the possession and was finally dragged down from behind at the WF 6 yard line. After three more plays, MAD's Choutka scored on a 2 yard run and MAD jumped on top 7-0 with 7:46 left in the first quarter. However, WF's Eckert took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards and the game was even at 7-all with 7:34 to play. MAD then went three and out, giving WF the ball back on the MAD 42 yard line. WF put together a short drive capped by a 8 yard Johnson to Cirillo pass and WF was on top, 14-7, with 4:11 to play in the first quarter. MAD and WF then exchanged punts and the quarter ended 14-7, WF. Madison completed two 4th downs on their next drive to start the second quarter and finished the 92 yard drive with a 6 yard Thomas run to pull within 14-13 (WF's Schweiger blocked the XP attempt) with 6:47 remaining in the half. WF's Asante fumbled on the next WF drive at the MAD 34 but MAD could not take advantage and punted. WF returned the favor, punting the ball back to MAD on their own 16 yard line where WF's Petrillo eventually stuffed that drive with a fumble recovery on the WF 41 yard line. The half ended shortly after with WF ahead, 14-13.
MAD got the ball to start the second half and after a few plays got off a very short punt that gave WF the ball on the MAD 42 yard line. WF again failed to drive, hampered by two fouls (more on that later) and failed on a fake punt attempt, giving MAD the ball on their own 39 yard line. Now the first big play happened-WF's Hinton intercepted Choutka at midfield and turned the play into a pick-six, putting WF out further ahead, 21-13, with 7:01 to play in the third quarter. MAD went three and out on their next possession, but WF's Johnson fumbled trying to avoid a sack and MAD recovered the ball on the WF 41 yard line. After two big penalties (an offensive PI and an ineligible receiver downfield) MAD had to punt. WF's next possession went three and out, then MAD went three and out to start the 4th quarter but got off a 50 yard punt that pinned WF on their own 20 yard line. On the very first play, Johnson hit Eckert on an 80 yard TD pass and WF was now ahead by two scores 28-13, with 9:59 to play. WF's Cockrill forced a Choutka fumble on the next MAD possession at the MAD 18 yard line. WF reached the MAD 6 yard line but then the flags started flying again and WF eventually settled for a 27 yard Delaney FG to extend the lead to 31-13 with 6:09 to play. MAD tried to mount two more drives before the game ended, with the last being snuffed out when WF's Free intercepted Choutka in the end zone with less than two minutes to play.
I have to add this about the officiating. I usually don't say much about the refs but they were terribly inconsistent. After a first half with very few fouls, the 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th saw flags on just about every 3rd or 4th play. Then around the middle of the 4th quarter they just swallowed their whistles. They call one PI on a WF defender that was a 50-50 play on the pass, then shortly after two of them ignored a MAD defender slowing down an open WF receiver with a jersey pull right in front of them. In the 4th quarter, they let a late hit on a defender out of bounds go, then on the very next play flagged a defender for the exact same thing. I lost track of the number of blatant holds, too. I have seen most of the guys on this crew several times before, and, frankly, their inconsistency was quite puzzling. Fortunately it did not affect the outcome of the game but their work certainly needs review.
Westfield received the ball to start the game and went three and out. After getting the ball on their own 14 yard line, Madison's Thomas went 83 yards on the second play of the possession and was finally dragged down from behind at the WF 6 yard line. After three more plays, MAD's Choutka scored on a 2 yard run and MAD jumped on top 7-0 with 7:46 left in the first quarter. However, WF's Eckert took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards and the game was even at 7-all with 7:34 to play. MAD then went three and out, giving WF the ball back on the MAD 42 yard line. WF put together a short drive capped by a 8 yard Johnson to Cirillo pass and WF was on top, 14-7, with 4:11 to play in the first quarter. MAD and WF then exchanged punts and the quarter ended 14-7, WF. Madison completed two 4th downs on their next drive to start the second quarter and finished the 92 yard drive with a 6 yard Thomas run to pull within 14-13 (WF's Schweiger blocked the XP attempt) with 6:47 remaining in the half. WF's Asante fumbled on the next WF drive at the MAD 34 but MAD could not take advantage and punted. WF returned the favor, punting the ball back to MAD on their own 16 yard line where WF's Petrillo eventually stuffed that drive with a fumble recovery on the WF 41 yard line. The half ended shortly after with WF ahead, 14-13.
MAD got the ball to start the second half and after a few plays got off a very short punt that gave WF the ball on the MAD 42 yard line. WF again failed to drive, hampered by two fouls (more on that later) and failed on a fake punt attempt, giving MAD the ball on their own 39 yard line. Now the first big play happened-WF's Hinton intercepted Choutka at midfield and turned the play into a pick-six, putting WF out further ahead, 21-13, with 7:01 to play in the third quarter. MAD went three and out on their next possession, but WF's Johnson fumbled trying to avoid a sack and MAD recovered the ball on the WF 41 yard line. After two big penalties (an offensive PI and an ineligible receiver downfield) MAD had to punt. WF's next possession went three and out, then MAD went three and out to start the 4th quarter but got off a 50 yard punt that pinned WF on their own 20 yard line. On the very first play, Johnson hit Eckert on an 80 yard TD pass and WF was now ahead by two scores 28-13, with 9:59 to play. WF's Cockrill forced a Choutka fumble on the next MAD possession at the MAD 18 yard line. WF reached the MAD 6 yard line but then the flags started flying again and WF eventually settled for a 27 yard Delaney FG to extend the lead to 31-13 with 6:09 to play. MAD tried to mount two more drives before the game ended, with the last being snuffed out when WF's Free intercepted Choutka in the end zone with less than two minutes to play.
I have to add this about the officiating. I usually don't say much about the refs but they were terribly inconsistent. After a first half with very few fouls, the 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th saw flags on just about every 3rd or 4th play. Then around the middle of the 4th quarter they just swallowed their whistles. They call one PI on a WF defender that was a 50-50 play on the pass, then shortly after two of them ignored a MAD defender slowing down an open WF receiver with a jersey pull right in front of them. In the 4th quarter, they let a late hit on a defender out of bounds go, then on the very next play flagged a defender for the exact same thing. I lost track of the number of blatant holds, too. I have seen most of the guys on this crew several times before, and, frankly, their inconsistency was quite puzzling. Fortunately it did not affect the outcome of the game but their work certainly needs review.
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