By John Devereaux
WABC Liaison
The Westford Academy Grey Ghosts took the field Saturday night against rival Acton-Boxboro. The game was close for the first half but unfortunately the AB Colonials beat the Grey Ghosts by a final score of 27-9.
To start the game, WA decided to kick the ball, so they they would receive the ball to start the second half. The first quarter started with a Colonial drive that was stopped by the Ghosts defense. Westford’s first drive of the game showed that their run game was on point, as they would run the ball up the field. They would be stopped by the Colonials after a few first downs.
During the first quarter of AB’s second drive, Alex Chernauskas, a senior captain went down on the field after a defensive stop against the Colonials. He was carried off the field by two teammates, his injured foot didn’t seem to stop him, as he was on the sidelines cheering for his team.
A few plays later AB would score on a run play, to give them a 6-0 lead. As AB attempted their extra point conversion, Westford’s defensive line pancaked the ball and landed in the hands of junior Nick Fiorillo. He would run for 80 yards to the other end of the endzone, for a safety.
This put the Ghosts on the board, but were still be down 6-2. The defensive effort by Westford not only gave them the safety but would also give them another chance to score again as they would get the ball back. At the end of the first quarter the score of 6-2 would be in favor of rival AB.
The beginning of the second quarter was quite dull as both teams stopped each other from scoring. Towards the end of the quarter, the Colonials would run a fake punt, to get out of a fourth down conversion at mid-field. They would get the first down, but the ghosts would ultimately stop them from going into their endzone. After that drive Westford’s offense exploded as they kept pushing the ball up the field. When they entered the red zone, sophomore Connor Degenhardt flung the football in the air to senior Tristan Lee for a touchdown giving WA a 9-6 lead.
With a minute left in the half, AB made a crucial run. As they would quickly bring the ball up the field, with a mixture of running and passing the ball. They were closing in the endzone and ran one last play before time expired. The play would result in a rushing touchdown for the opposing team, and the second quarter came to an end. The score at the end of the first half was 13-9 with the Colonials in the lead.
The start of the second half started with a drive created by Westford. They brought the ball up to about the 50 yard line where they would end up punting the ball. The Colonials took advantage of their defensive stop, and ran the ball all the way back to the endzones in just a couple plays. They would expand their lead to 20-9.
After a quick score by the Colonials, both teams went back and forth and neither could find the endzone. The quarter would end in an 11 point lead by rival AB.
The fourth quarter started by multiple attempts of both teams being stopped short of striking distance. The defense on both teams ran down the clock. With under a few minutes left in the game a small break in Westford’s defense showed as they allowed a 30 yard rushing touchdown to put the Colonials up by a score of 27-9.
Both teams had the chance to reach the endzone before the end of the game but fell short. As the clock ran out, the final score of the game was AB 27 and WA 9. These two teams will meet again this year during the annual Thanksgiving game.
