Kennedy, Tabot Lead Bulldogs to Regional Title
(CHANTILLY, VA)--The Westfield Bulldogs started the 2007 season as a team on a mission. An early exit from the 2006 playoffs has lingered with the team for a year and Saturday afternoon the Westfield Bulldogs continued their run to another state championship. The Bulldogs hosted the West Springfield Spartans in front of a packed house at Bulldog Stadium. The Spartans came into the game with an impressive resume and 10-2 record, while the Bulldogs touted an unblemished 12-0 mark.
West Springfield came into the ballgame as the underdog, but nobody told the team that. The Spartans stood toe-to-toe with Westfield for the first 24 minutes of the ballgame, only down six at the intermission. The day started quickly for the Spartans as junior quarterback Bryn Renner found Andy Stallings on a fly pattern for a 14 yard touchdown pass to take the early lead. Not to be outdone, senior running back Brian Kennedy exploded through a hole in the defense and sprinted 48 yards to knot the score at 7-7 with 5:53 left in the opening quarter. West Springfield then took their next possession down the field and scored again, this time on a Bryn Renner to Josh Vallejos 24 yard touchdown pass to conclude the scoring of the 1st quarter. The second quarter was just one minute old when Westfield's Steven Tabot plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out to tie the score again, this time at 14-14. The teams traded possessions until the 3:13 mark in the 2nd quarter when Westfield took the lead for the first time in the ballgame on the second Brian Kennedy touchdown run of the game from 8 yards away. Senior kicker David Skahn missed the extra point and the score stood at 20-14 in favor of the Bulldogs. West Springfield quarterback Bryn Renner led an impressive drive that culminated on a 19 yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Fabrice Kambinga and when Tyler Bitancurt made the extra point the Spartans found themselves in the lead 21-20 with only 32 seconds left in the 1st half. Mike Glennon and the Bulldogs were not about to go into the locker room behind in the game. Glennon dropped back to pass with no time remaining on the clock and swung the ball to Ross Lavin out of the backfield. Lavin started down the sideline and picked up a key block from Kevin Stewart that allowed him to go all the way for a 39 yard touchdown and a 27-21 halftime lead for the Bulldogs. The score could have been tied at 27-27, but West Springfield's Tyler Bitancurt missed two field goals in the first half.
The teams used the halftime break to the best of their abilities, however, it was the Bulldogs that took control and pulled away in the game as the 2nd half moved along. The Bulldogs moved the opening possession down the field, and then watched as Steven Tabot broke free for a 59 yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 34-21. The ensuing kickoff brought trouble to West Springfield. The kickoff was not fielded well and the Spartans began the drive on their own 6 yard line. After 2 plays the Spartans had not been able to move out of the shadow of their own end zone, that was when senior defensive lineman Murphy Luatua sacked Bryn Renner for a Westfield safety. Westfield was unable to score on their next possession and the Spartans capitalized when Renner again found Vallejos for a 33 yard touchdown pass to bring the score a little closer at 36-28 in favor of the home standing Bulldogs. With about 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter Brian Kennedy again broke free and scored from 26 yards out to push the lead to 43-28 in favor of Westfield.
The 4th quarter became a formality as the Bulldogs scored twice on Brandon Ferell touchdown runs. The first came with 11 minutes to play in the ballgame from 16 yards out. The second touchdown was from 12 yards out with only 6 minutes to play. After the Ferell touchdown runs the score stood at 58-28 in favor of Westfield. West Springfield refused to give up in the ballgame and tallied the final score of the game when Bryn Renner took a quarterback draw into the end zone with only 2:48 left in the game. The game came to an end with both schools substituting for starters and allowing some of the younger players to finish off the contest. The final score stood at 58-34 for the Westfield Bulldogs.
The win allows the Bulldogs to continue on to the state semi-finals, where they will face-off with Oscar Smith. Oscar Smith defeated Salem Friday night to advance to this game, and will surely be looking forward to matching up with Westfield. Both schools will go into the contest at a very impressive 13-0, and this could easily be the best game in the state for the rest of the year. No time has been determined yet for the game that will be played next Saturday December 1, 2007 in Virginia Beach. Gameday Magazine and the Gameday Radio Network and working diligently to cover the game, stay tuned to www.GamedayMagazine.com for all of the latest updates on this game, as well as the rest of the action taking place in the state semi-final round next week.
