The Herndon Hornets Shock Westfield 29-28
Herndon FB Sam Groter plows his way into the endzone in the 1st overtime of Friday's win over Westfield. Groter was named the Velocity sports Performance Player of the Game for his play on both sides of the football.
Photo By Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
Westfield's Jordon Anderson breaks free from the defense and races into the endzone for a 63 yard touchdown. Anderson was the VSP Player of the Game for the Bulldogs in defeat.
Photo By Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
HERNDON, VA - On a beautiful, crisp sunny Saturday homecoming afternoon, the Herndon community filled Hornet Stadium in anticipation of a big Concorde District game against the Westfield Bulldogs. Little did they know how big the day would be...
The Bulldogs came into the game with a 7-0 record, and looking towards a showdown next week against the equally undefeated Oakton Cougars, quite possibly for the Concorde District title. But the Hornets had plans on upsetting those plans, along with the District apple cart!
In spite of the final score, this was a defensive battle for the ages, as both teams came at each other with much furor, and it took big offensive plays to break the other team's onslaught.
Herndon scored first, on the 2nd play of the game. On their own 40 yard line, junior QB Zack Ozycz, on a flea-flicker from RB Devon Thompson, hit a wide open Zach Leach down the middle of the field for the 60 yard score. The Joe Eftekhari PAT put the Hornets up 7-0.
After trading a couple of possessions, and with 3 minutes left in the quarter, the Buldogs' Dylan Doty blocked a Herndon punt, picked up the ball, and raced 49 yards for Westfields' first score, and the 7-7 tie was how the 1st frame ended.
Neither team was able to move the ball much of the 2nd. But with 5 minutes left in the half, and Westfield driving for a potential score, Leach stepped in front of a Danny Fenyak pass in the end zone for the interception. But as he attempted to run the ball out of the end zone, Leach was caught from behind and taken down for the 2-point safety, to give the Bulldogs the lead, 9-7. The score would stand at the half.
The 3rd quarter was much like the 2nd, except no team could get enough momentum to get close enough to score. But on the 1st play of the 4th stanza, Westfield's Jordon Anderson broke free from the line of scrimmage, and out-ran the rest of the Herndon defense for a 63 yard touchdown sprint, putting the Bulldogs up 15-7. The point after sailed wide, and this miss would loom large for the final score after regulation.
The Hornets then would put on a final charge. Ozycz pilotted a 16 play drive, which began at their own 12 yard line, mixing his play calls, and keeping the Bulldog defense guessing. And with 7:41 remaining in the game,Ozycz dove in from the 1, and with the score now 15-13 in favor of the Concorde leaders, head coach Joe Scheaffer decided to go for 2 points. Ozycz rolled to his right, and hit Nick Impellizzeri at the goal line, and the score was now knotted at 15, and that is how the game ended, sending it into overtime.
Herndon won the coin toss and elected to give Westfield the ball first, in the 1st extra frame. The hornets stopped Anderson on his 1st 2 carries, and on 3rd down, Fenyak dropped back, and hit a wide open Cole McInturff for the 1st score. The PAT was good, and now it was herndon's turn to keep the game going. Wasting no time, junior FB, Sam Groter plowed through the middle of the Westfield defesnive line for the 10 yard score, and after the PAT, the game went into the 2nd extra series, tied at 22.
On the subsequent coin toss, the Bulldogs won this one, and elected to give Herndon the ball 1st, on the 10 yard line. Ozycz was true to his game again, and on the same play that sent the game into the overtime before, he hit Impellizzeri in the endzone, for the touchdown. The kick was good, and now the Hornets had the lead for the 2nd time in the game, 29-22.
With Westfield now needing to score to stay alive, senior RB Jay Jackson took the 1st down hand-off around left end, and was brought down on the 1 yard line. Fenyak called his own number on 2nd down, and dove into the box for the score. Needing the extra point to tie the game again, head coach Tom Verbanic threw a curveball at the Hornets, as he decided to go for the 2-point conversion, and hopefully the win. This forced a time-out by the Hornets to re-adjust their defense. after the discussion expired, the Bulldogs stayed true to their dare, and lined up for the 2-pointer.
With the over-capacity Herndon crowd in a frenzy, and tensions certainly high, Fenyak dropped straight back for the pass. Seeing an open McInturff open at the goal line, he reared back to throw the dart, only to have the ball slightly tipped at the line of scrimmage, and the ball bounced helplessly at the feet of the intended reciever, and the upset bid was now a reality, sending hundreds of Herndon Faithful out onto the field for the celebration. Final score: Herndon 29 - Westfield 28.
With the loss, Westfield now drops to 7-1, 3-1 in the Concorde. Although the loss now puts a different spin on the October 24th match-up with the Oakton Cougars, at home, a District title is still within the Bulldogs' grasp, with a win on Friday night.
Herndon's play-off hopes were certainly elevated to a probability with their win, now 6-2, 3-1 in the Concorde. The Hornets will now face Robinson on Friday night, in Fairfax.
VELOCITY SPORTS PERFORMANCE PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Sam Groter - Junior FB\LB, Herndon
Groter had a great defensive game for the Hornets, making big stop tackles on Westfield's Jordon Anderson most of the game. He was also instrumental on several 2nd half offensive drives, getting tough yardage gains for ist downs. His 10 yard TD run in the 1st overtime helped the Hornets advance, and later beat their Concorde rivals.
Jordon Anderson - Senior RB, Westfield
Anderson had a tough day gaining big yardage throughout the day, but stayed tough and kept pounding the ball right at, and oftentimes around, the Herndon defense. Although he only saw the endzone once, he was key on many Bulldog drives, and 5 gains of over 30 yards. He was also key as the Bulldog kick returner, twice with returns of over 40 yards.
