Westfield extends win streak to 35 games, reaches third straight sectional football final

WESTFIELD — It was business as usual for Westfield on Saturday, which, comes to think of it, is anything but usual, these days.

The Blue Devils scratched and clawed their way to their second 13-6 decision over Elizabeth this fall, only this one came in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA North 2 Group V playoffs.

The victory propelled the two-time defending sectional champions into a third consecutive final against Bridgewater-Raritan, who it has trimmed by margins of 10-7 and 15-13, respectively, in the last two title games.

Westfield extended New Jersey’s longest active winning streak to 35 garnes, though the team treats the streak as an ancillary benefit to its primary objective of winning another championship.

“We’re not putting stress on them to win games because of the streak,” Westfield coach Jim DeSarno said. “They put pressure on themselves to win games because they just want to keep playing. And that’s what’s important.”

For the eighth time in 10 outings Westfield limited an opponent to a touchdown or less, yielding just 155 yards, 94 on the ground, to an explosive opponent with big-play capabilities.

“Our defense returned a ton of guys with a lot of senior leadership,” said linebacker Shea Elliott. “We don’t really have one or two standouts, everybody just does their part. Come harder every play, and we pride ourselves on that.”

The taut contest was scoreless for the first 22 minutes before sophomore Hank Shapiro hooked up with Tim Alliegro for a 16-yard Westfield touchdown on a screen pass over the middle on third-and-14 with 1:42 left in the half.

Elizabeth thought it had an equalizer on a 26-yard pass from LeShane Taylor to Tasim Hicks in the final seconds of the half but the play was nullified by a holding penalty.

The Minutemen opened the second half with a strong defensive stand that gave it the ball at the Westfield 37. Three plays later Taylor found Gabriel Nash in the end zone, but a bad snap foiled the potential-tying PAT with 9:21 left in the third quarter.

Westfield’s defense stiffened, stopping Elizabeth on three-and-outs on its next two possessions and ceding just one first down over the Minutemen’s four remaining possessions in the final 21 minutes of the contest.

“We played really good defense today, that’s who we are,” DeSarno said. “We had our struggles on offense and just fought through it and then we popped one.”

Juandre House gave the Blue Devils some breathing room with a 56-yard burst that extended the lead to 13-6 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

“It was an option and I saw the linebacker (Naseim Daniels) come in a little bit so I told Jake (Vall-Llobera) ‘give me the ball’ and there’s was nothing in front of me and I just kicked it into second gear and kept going,” House explained. “It’s not too much focus on, ‘we need a play,’ just keep fighting and one will come.”

Elizabeth crossed midfield on the ensuing possession but Drew Ortiz picked off a Taylor pass and the Minutemen would not to threaten again.

ELIZABETH (5-6) 0-0-6-0-6

WESTFIELD (10-0) 0-7-0-6-13

SCORING SUMMARY

W - Alliegro 16 pass from Shapiro (Boland kick)

E - Nash 24 pass from Taylor (run failed)

W - House 56 run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - E: Taylor 11-37, Daniels 7-34, Wactor 11-18, Harmon 1-5; W: House 12-96, Alliegro 16-55,  Vall-Llobera 1-2, Shapiro 8-minus 10.

Passing - E: Taylor 5-11-1-61; W: Shapiro 12-20-0-89.

Receiving - E: Harmon 3-35, Nash 1-24, Hicks 1-2; W: Obsgarten 3-26, Smith 2-21, Freer 2-15, Alliegro 2-14, Rooney 1-14, House 1-5, Norris 1-4.