FOOTBALL: Westfield gets 3 touchdowns from Shirk, tops Union

WESTFIELD - The Westfield High School football team ran its state-best winning streak to 23 games Saturday and are one victory away from a second straight perfect campaign.

But what makes the fact the Blue Devils have now put together back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and are one game away from a second straight state sectional championship might not be the most impressive thing about what Westfield has accomplished this season.

With the loss of four seniors to season-ending injuries, including its top two running backs and a starting wide receiver, the Westfield offense needed to find another dimension to its attack, and senior Jack Shirk was the catalyst Saturday. The split end caught three touchdowns from quarterback Phil Martini, finishing with eight catches for 203 yards, and the vaunted Blue Devils defense did the rest with another dominant effort, as top-seeded Westfield returned to the NJSIAA North 2 Group V final with a 21-7 victory over sixth-seeded Union at Kehler Stadium.

“Losing the two backs, (Matt) Varano and Ish (Ishmael Glasco), and then (receiver/kicker) Mike (Moriarty) last week, that was devastating,” said Shirk, whose team will face second-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan in the final at 1 p.m. Dec. 3, in a rematch of last season’s championship game, won by Westfield 10-7. “People have had to step into those roles and step up. It’s a lot of pressure for me, but everyone’s putting in work and getting the job done.”

“It’s heart, will and determination,” Westfield coach Jim DeSarno said of his 10-0 club. “We’ve lost four seniors to season-ending injuries, and it just says a lot about our kids. I don’t believe in next man up. I believe that everyone’s got to do a little bit more, and someone like Jack Shirk did a lot more today. And our defense did a lot more and they stepped up knowing we had some issues offensively and it was just a great effort.”

RELATED: A complete list of results and story links to all this weekend's local football semifinals

With Shirk and Martini handling the bulk of the offense – Westfield managed just 63 rushing yards, but 246 through the air -- the Blue Devils defense turned in the kind of performance that has pretty much been a given for a club that’s averaged just 9.4 points against this season. Westfield has now held six of 10 opponents to 10 points or less, and allowed just one team – Ridge in Week 2 in a 35-21 Blue Devils victory – to score more than 14 points in any contest.

And it was a unit-wide effort, as usual, featuring reigning Courier News Football Player of the Week Nick Maher and Ben Kelly, along with standouts Jeff Gagum, Owen Kessler and Drew Ortiz, who each recorded sacks Saturday. The secondary also got into the act, as Adam McDaniel and Steve Barden each grabbed interceptions for a club that forced a total three turnovers and four sacks.

“The reason we are where we are is because of our defense,” DeSarno said. “They work so hard in practice and they make our offense better because we have to go against them every day. I wouldn’t want to face them. I have to face them on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and that’s enough. It’s just everybody. It’s 11 guys just playing their butts off.”

Both defenses came out firing, as the first five possessions of the game ended in punts, including four on three-and-outs. Westfield finally broke through with just 10 seconds left in the first quarter as Martini hit Shirk with a 19-yard scoring pass, with Aidan Boland connecting on the extra point, a task at which he finished 3-for-3 Saturday.

After the Blue Devils forced Union into another 3-and-out on the ensuing drive, getting the ball at their own 36-yard line, Martini delivered a short pass to Shirk on the second play, and the senior streaked 65 yards down the left sideline and into the end zone.

Westfield then recovered the ensuing kickoff after it bounced wildly at around the Farmers’ 30, but Martini was intercepted on the first scrimmage, the second of five turnovers the two teams would combine for in the second quarter.

Westfield added the capper with 3:56 left before halftime on a 68-yard Martini-to-Shirk hook up, before Union got its touchdown on an 80-yard run late in the third quarter from AL-Tariq Jones, who finished with 109 yards on 15 carries.

“We had a great week of practice, we practiced our butts off and came out here ready to play,” said Shirk, whose team beat Union 28-13 back in Week 5. “We’ve seen them before, we knew what they were going to do and we came out ready to go and got us the win.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atSPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN