BLYTHEWOOD – Westwood’s football team looked to open a passing attack in the season opener.
A.C. Flora intercepted it, and sent the Redhawks down to a 42-6 defeat at District Two Stadium Friday night.
The Falcons defense, coming off a lackluster season of both youth and injuries, picked off four Carrington Carter passes, running back two for scores, and kept Westwood out of the end zone for three quarters.
It was a bad night for Westwood, but third-year head coach Robert O’Connell said the offense showed signs of life after two lousy quarters.
“No.1, we beat ourselves,” he said. “Hat’s off to Flora, they’re a good team, but we had four turnovers, two pick-sixes, the ball on the 1-yard line twice and didn’t score. But especially in the second half I thought our defense came back and played better.”
Westwood had 131 rushing yards, with Quentin McGill the leading rusher with 67 yards and the team’s only touchdown on 14 carries. Besides the interceptions, Carter connected with five receivers as Westwood moved the ball without much trouble throughout the game—until the drives ended on turnovers and turnovers on downs.
For third-year Falcons head coach and Fairfield Central High graduate Ken Floyd, the way the defense played gave the team a big lift after last year’s 4-7 effort.
“I’m really, really excited about our defense,” said third-year Falcons head coach and Fairfield Central graduate Ken Floyd. “That was a heck of a showing. Those guys have been working hard. They’ve had a dirty taste in their mouth since last season, and it was good to see them answer the bell tonight.”
Junior quarterback Roper Wentzky, who passed for 2,694 yards and 30 touchdowns last year, went 14-for-17 for 154 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions.
A.C. Flora got two touchdown passes from Wentzky in the first half, a 26-yarder to Josh Davis in the first quarter and a 14-yard pass to Tripp Van Vlake at the 8:44 mark of the second.
Back-to-back pick-sixes put the Falcons up 28-0 with 3:46 left in the first half.
Before the first turnover, Westwood drove 71 yards to the Flora 8-yard line on eight plays. The Redhawks got penalized with two false starts to back them up to the Flora 18, and on second and goal from there Carter threw a dart to the goal line that landed in the hands of Flora defender Azel Banag. Banag dashed to the left sideline, then turned sharply downfield, breaking free for a 100-yard interception return.
The hits kept on coming for Westwood. On its next possession, the Redhawks faced a third-and-four on their own 36-yard line. Carter faded back and lofted a pass that Falcons defender Jeremiah Mack caught around the 40-yard line, and he dashed into the end zone seconds later.
Westwood’s offense kept pushing, and Carter kept throwing. The Redhawks finished a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard McGill touchdown run with eight seconds left in the half.
Going into the second half leading 28-6, Wentzky threw touchdown passes of 13 and 16 yards to Josh Davis and Grady Bell to close out the game.
From this point, Westwood looks to apply last week’s lessons when they play host to Lakewood Friday. Lakewood fell 48-0 to Sumter last week.
“The biggest thing for us is how much can we grow and learn from it,” O’Connell said. “That’s what we talk about and learn to grow and get better for the region.”
A.C. Flora – 7-21-7-7 – 42
Westwood – 0-6-0-0 – 6
First Quarter
F – Josh Davis 26 pass from Roper Wentzky (Grant Hill kick) 4:12
Second Quarter
F – Tripp Van Vlake 14 pass from Wentzky (Hill kick) 8:44
F – Azel Banag 100 interception return (Hill kick) 4:45
F – Jeremiah Mack 40 interception return (Hill kick) 3:46
W – Quentin McGill Jr. 1 run (kick failed) :08
Third Quarter
F – Davis 13 pass from Wentzky (Hill kick) 9:01
Fourth Quarter
F – Grady Bell 16 pass from Wentzky (Hill kick) 1:18
ACF WHS
First downs 18 15
Rushes-yards 28-117 34-131
Passing yards 154 87
Att-Com-Int 18-14-0 23-10-4
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 9-83 9-80
Punts-avg 2-36.0 3-36.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: F – Solomon Kelson 15-89, Josh Davis 3-9, Brandon Mack 3-49, Roper Wentzky 2-8, Kendall Byrd 1-0, Team 1-3. W – Quentin McGill Jr. 15-67, Angelo Rios 10-29, Carrington Carter 4-31, Kham Cunningham 6-4.
PASSING: F – Roper Wentzky 14-18-0. W – Carrington Carter 10-23-4.
RECIEVING: F – Kendall Byrd 4-38, Tripp Van Vlake 3-49, Josh Davis 2-36, Grady Bell 2-26. W – Quentin McGill Jr. 4-26, Cameron Bennett 2-32, Angelo Rios 2-17, Cohen Scott 1-6, Tyreck Jenkins 1-6.
