Westfield’s Noah Swords carries the ball during the first quarter against East Longmeadow Friday night. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
EAST LONGMEADOW – After Friday night’s football thriller, there should be little doubt left in the minds of Westfield Bomber Nation that if this group of individuals puts their minds to it, no one can stop their quest for a Super Bowl.
Westfield rallied from 22 points down to stun the host East Longmeadow Spartans, 48-36, Friday night. The Bombers (7-0) scored 34 unanswered points to remain unbeaten. The Spartans fell to 5-2.
The home team’s scoreboard lit up so many points in the first half, it’s a surprise that a bulb didn’t pop.
Westfield was the first to score when the Bombers’ offensive line sprang halfback Rashaun Rivers for an 84-yard touchdown jaunt with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter. Rivers slipped a couple of tackles, separated from a defensive player’s grasp of his jersey and raced the rest of the way untouched.
Westfield’s defense forced an East Longmeadow punt on its first drive, but the Spartans soon recovered a Bombers’ fumble near midfield and capitalized.
East Longmeadow quarterback Devon Kennedy spotted Ryan Taft wide open in the corner of the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 2:43 left in the quarter. With 2-point conversions on the game’s first two TDs, the game was tied 8-8.
Then, in the second quarter, if you blinked you likely missed a scoring play.
A 60-yard touchdown run down the right sideline by East Longmeadow’s Mike Maggipinto. Another run from Maggipinto, this time from seven yards out. A 14-yard touchdown pass from Kennedy to Taft to give the Spartans a 28-8 lead with 4:49 left to go in the half.
Westfield followed with a quick drive capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Austin St. Pierre to tight end Noah Swords. (Senior starter Jake Toomey was briefly out due to injury). East Longmeadow responded with a long touchdown run from Maggipinto. The Bombers closed out the half by getting on the board with 34.2 ticks remaining. Cody Neidig reeled off a 31-yard TD run.
Neidig’s late first-half score was just the beginning of a superb offensive surge for Westfield, beginning what turned out to be 34 unanswered points after trailing 36-14.
Ben Geschwind plowed into the endzone on a short catch-and-run pass from quarterback Toomey for the first of Westfield’s second-half scores.
East Longmeadow began its next drive on the 20, and drove all the way to the Westfield 5-yard line before turning the ball over on a fumble. The Bombers moved the ball near midfield before completing a 59-yard TD pass on 4th-and-1 from their own 41. Neidig caught the short swing pass out in the flat and scampered up the sideline, tying the game 36-36 with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Westfield’s defense – showing unmatched grit, determination, and passion in the second half – shut down another East Longmeadow drive, forcing the Spartans to punt. Shortly thereafter, Toomey ripped off a long run. A shorter one from the Bombers’ QB, an 8-yarder, resulted in a touchdown and a 42-36 lead.
The Westfield defense stiffened on another test early in the fourth quarter, forcing an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4 from the 7 with 8:03 left.
Westfield chewed up yardage and clock. Neidig finally sealed the deal with 2:52 left after crossing the goal line on a 50-yard TD score.
The comeback was a thing of beauty, and more importantly, kept Westfield undefeated.
