After a crushing 14-0 victory against Lowell High School, on Sept. 20 WA Football lost 35-14 to Billerica Memorial High School (BMHS) at their first home game, an outcome which resulted mostly from a few broken plays and a defensive line which could not keep up with the vigor of the opposing team. This brought their season record to 1-1.
In honor of WA’s first home game, the student section sported American colors and patriotic outfits, keeping up the morale and spirit throughout the whole game even as loss became near inevitable.
For a majority of the game, the teams were locked, hardly moving with Westford making some promising plays at times. It was only during a few fast and singular breakaway plays, concentrated in the first half, that BMHS managed to score so many points ahead of WA. Westford managed to make a lot of strong plays, but for each 20-yard advance, Billerica was able to strike back with a touchdown.
At the start of the game, WA kicked off but Billerica running back (RB) and free safety (FS) Judd Dorival returned for a touchdown to get an early 7-0 lead for BMHS. Not many plays later, Dorival repeated the move, bringing the score to 13-0 before 5 minutes had even come off of the clock. The rest of the quarter was lackluster, but BMHS had sent a message to WA already that they would not be holding anything back.
In the second quarter the trend remained as Billerica wide receiver (WR) Gryffin Bordeau scored another touchdown with an over 60-yard run. BMHS went on to complete a two-point conversion to making the score 21-0, which it remained throughout the rest of the quarter. However, after taking their first time out and just before the quarter ended, WA’s WR and strong safety Ryan Kyle nearly made it to the touchdown line, shining some hope of what could become not a total stomp for WA.
At half time WA Cheer performed a routine to “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna and WA Marching Band and Color Guard performed “Pandora’s Box,” instructed by band teacher Adam Shekleton.
At the beginning of the second half, WA WR and FS Alex Wilson scored Westford’s first points of the game with a touchdown after a 65-yard run. The hype didn’t last for long as Dorival, outrunning the Ghost’s defense, matched WA’s touchdown not long thereafter, bringing the score to 28-7 with WA 21 points behind.
At this point in the game, the penalties were stacking up against Westford, stalling what could’ve been an otherwise promising collection of plays and diminishing the team’s drive.
Wilson managed to score another touchdown in the third quarter but Westford’s momentum was stunted as they spent the rest of the game keeping Billerica out of their end zone, eventually leading into another touchdown from Dorival, with the stands chanting “defense” and “go WA” before the final moments came and the score added up: 35-14, making for a crushing defeat for WA.
“We’ve just got to work […] we’ve got a lot of talented kids,” outside linebacker coach Pat McCabe said. “We’ve just got to finish stuff and put a couple of things together, we’ve got a lot of good football players and dedicated staff.”
Westford’s next game is Friday, Sept. 27 against Belmont High School and it will be a home game at 7 PM.
