Strong Second Half Helps House Advance
On the first Friday night of the football season that “felt like fall” we got a game that matched up to the atmosphere of the season. Westinghouse utilized a big third quarter to break open a tie game and take down Chestnut Ridge 42-28 at Cupples Stadium.
On their opening drive, Chestnut Ridge showed they came to play by immediately marching down the field and opening the scoring on a Whysong to Whysong pass from 21 yards our to open the scoring at 7-0. On the ensuing drive, Westinghouse, still showing ring rust similar to last week vs Allderdice, fumbled several times on the opening drive and after a botched handoff, Jonah Hillegass jumped on a loose ball. Chestnut Ridge went 3 and out on the drive and Westinghouse methodically began a nearly 9 minute drive which was capped off by a Morsillo keeper from 1 yd. Instead of sending reliable kicker Osavio Martin in for the PAT, House went for two and the run was stuffed, preserving the lead for the visitors.
After another failed drive for Chestnut Ridge, House blasted down the field and Malik Harris ripped a 51 yard TD run to put them in the lead at 14-7 with 1:12 to go in the half as Morsillo carried for the conversion. The visiting side would not go quietly into the cold Pittsburgh night, as the Whysong to Whysong connection found another score to tie the game on the stroke of halftime.
The game breaking moment came in the third quarter, as on the opening kickoff, Kairon Collins took the kickoff back 95 yards for a TD to push the lead to 22-14. Harris torched a 40 yard run not long after to make it 28-14 midway through the third. Chestnut Ridge was unable to play catchup—While they did tack on two more scores, so did Westinghouse to seal the deal and advance to play undefeated Windber next Friday at Somerset Area HS.
Takeaways
1.) Westinghouse hurt themselves with penalties in the first half and seemed to have a bit of a “hangover” from their City League final loss to Allderdice(14-0 last weekend). They rebounded with a fantastic second half and we saw what the offense was capable of when it is firing on all pistons.
2.) Chestnut Ridge was game. They came to play, had no fear about airing it out and actually found a high amount of success against the Bulldogs with their passing attack.
3.) The game was undone for Chestnut Ridge on the kickoff in the third. They fell behind, fell down emotionally and never truly recovered. They made a game of it, but falling behind two scores sealed the deal
Looking Ahead
Westinghouse faces a very tough test in undefeated Windber. That said, I don’t think we can compare the quality of opponents and results. Westinghouse has faced a much tougher slate and has seen opponents come to the table with numerous college players of all levels, be it Power 5 to D3. They’re battle tested.
The question is…Does Windber’s momentum defeat Westinghouse deeper experience this year?