Football: Westfield extends win streak to 31 games

PISCATAWAY - It has been 1,057 days since Westfield High School has lost a football game, and one has to wonder if seniors like Jake Vall-Llobera, who has never lost a varsity game, are at least a little curious about what defeat feels like.

“I’m going to go with no on that question,” Vall-Llobera said with smile.

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Vall-Llobera ensured that his team wouldn’t have to experience the agony of defeat for at least another week as he delivered both touchdowns on a pair of Wildcat runs to lift the Blue Devils to a 13-6 decision over Elizabeth at Highpoint Solutions Stadium on a cloudy Saturday afternoon.

Westfield (6-0), ranked first in the Courier News Top 10, extended the state’s longest winning streak to 31 games as it clinched its fourth consecutive Mid-State 37 Watchung Division title.

For all of his heroics on offense, Vall-Llobera, listed only as a defensive end on the Westfield roster, was much prouder of the collective effort of the Blue Devil defense.

“Defense is my home, we work so hard every single day in practice,” Vall-Llobera said. “Our coaches destroy us. Our practices, I think, are harder than anybody else in the country and that’s why we we’re in games in the fourth quarter.” 

For the sixth game in a row Westfield yielded just a single touchdown and all of those have come in the first half. The Blue Devils have not allowed a point after halftime all season.

Elizabeth’s first four possessions all ended in three-and-outs as the Minutemen managed a total of just 33 yards of total offense, all on the ground. The Minutemen scorned a touchdown before they recorded a first down, as Jabriel Harmon blocked and recovered a Westfield punt at the Blue Devil 1. LeShane Taylor scored on keeper on the next play with four minutes left in the half, Elizabeth’s lone foray into the end zone.

“That was their offense,” Westfield coach Jim DeSarno said of the blocked punt. “We played great defense, nothing flashy on offense. We gave up a little at the end when we were trying to prevent them from scoring.”

Elizabeth’s initial first down was awarded after a penalty midway through the second quarter and its offense didn’t earn one until the last 20 seconds of the half.

Westfield didn’t cross the goal line until 36 seconds remained in the half and, as it has so often occurred during this formidable streak, it made what appeared to be a lucky break for itself. Sophomore quarterback Hank Shapiro’s first-down pass from the Elizabeth 17 was deflected at the line of scrimmage and Steven Barden made his first significant play of the afternoon by adjusting to the ball and hauling it in at the 3. Vall-Llobera bulled his way into the end zone from there on his first touch of the but a blocked extra point left the game deadlocked at the break.

The Blue Devils maintained an advantage in field position for most of the contest and its second touchdown came on a 45-yard drive requiring five plays, the last a 34-yard rumble up the middle by Vall-Llobera.

For all of that, the contest remained in doubt until the final seconds. Elizabeth assumed possession at its 31 with 3:12 remaining. The Minutemen put together their first sustained march of the afternoon, penetrating to the Westfield 27, before Barden sealed the outcome with an interception at the goal line with 15 seconds to play.

Westfield overcame some adversity when its leading rusher, Tim Alliegro, left the field with an injured left knee early in the second quarter and did not return. That increased the workload of Vall-Llobera, who carried eight time for 61 yards, and Juandre House, who lugged the rock a team-leading 17 times.

Westfield will attempt to extend the winning streak when it travels to Immaculata on Friday. Thirty-one and counting.

ELIZABETH (3-3)  0-6-0-0-6

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

SCORING SUMMARY
 
E - Taylor 1 run (kick failed)

W - Vall-Llobera 3 run (kick blocked)

W - Vall-Llobera 34 run (Boland kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing - E: Wactor 19-79, Taylor 13-57, Daniels 4-21; W: Vall-Llobera 8-61, Alliegro 9-48, House 17-29, Freer 1-4, Shapiro 8-0.

Passing - E: Taylor 2-6-1-4; W: Shapiro 4-12-1-74.

Receiving - E: Jamison 1-8, Wactor 1-minus 4; W: Braden 2-53, Freer 2-21.