Westfield senior quarterback Jake Toomey takes off running with the ball against East Longmeadow. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – There have been several big games in Westfield High School football coach Bill Moore’s decade-plus long tenure – his Bombers were Super Bowl runners-up twice – but maybe none is bigger than this.
On Friday, No. 2 Westfield (7-2) travels to Springfield to take on the host Central Golden Eagles, the divisional playoff’s top seed, in the Western Massachusetts Division II football final. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Central (8-1) has beaten its opponents to a pulp by the combined score of 280-72, save for a non-league loss to Everett, 31-23, to open the season.
“They’re good,” Moore said of the opposition. “They do a lot of work in the offseason. Their kids are at camps all summer. They lift. They’re a big, strong, fast football team. We’re going to do our thing, and hopefully do it a little better than last time.”
In the teams’ previous meeting, Central cruised to a 52-14 victory at home to capture the AA Conference championship on the season’s final day. The game turned on a key goal line stop by the Golden Eagles.
Westfield’s Cody Neidig carries the ball against Central. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
Westfield drove 85 yards in 11 plays and was poised to pull within one touchdown of a tie, but Central stopped the Bombers just inches shy of the goal line on fourth down with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
With momentum on its side, the Golden Eagles,scored two touchdowns in an 87-second span just before the half to pull away.
“We kind of stumbled a bit (after that key fourth down stop),” Moore said. “Then we did some things in the second half that didn’t work out.”
Westfield never could quite catch up to Central, and the Golden Eagles swooped away with the AA Conference title.
Nobody in Western Massachusetts has been able to slow this high-flying, fast-attacking bunch.
“Cody Williams is a dynamic quarterback,” Moore said of a Central’s senior field general, ranking him as likely the best QB the region has seen since Longmeadow’s Pat Donnelly engineered the Lancers to three Super Bowl championships.
Donnelly is now the senior starting quarterback for Brown University.
For anyone wondering how Westfield would respond to adversity, those questions were put to rest rather quickly in the D2 West semifinals when the Bombers trampled the East Longmeadow Spartans, 49-26.
In that game, Westfield senior halfback Rashuan Rivers rushed for five touchdowns, piling up more than 200 yards on the ground. The Bombers ran their triple-option, power running game to near-perfection.
“Our guys did pretty well,” Moore said. “There are endless ways they have improved … in run-blocking, passing, fundamental things.”
Through nine games, regular season and postseason, Westfield has outscored the competition 347-230. Take away the lopsided Central score and the Bombers are nearly doubling up their opponents, 333-178.
“They’ve been working hard,” Moore said. “We’re just hoping to get a little better every week.”
Westfield may be heavy underdogs, but if the Bombers play a sound, fundamental football game, and continue to make big plays on defense like they have done all season, the City of Springfield could be in for a stunning upset Friday night.
