Hornets stuff Eagles’ bid to steal win on final play

The mysteries abounded Friday at Marvin Arrington Stadium.

Was there going to be overtime? Is it possible to have offsides and a false start at the same time? Who exactly made the game-saving hit on the two-point try?

What is no mystery is that the Westfield Hornet football team put on a championship-like celebration Friday storming the field after beating the Stratford Academy Eagles 21-20. Head coach Ronnie Jones cleared up one mystery (yes, both sides agreed to play overtime in the case of a regulation tie), but he didn’t see who exactly had the stop when Stratford lined up for a two-point conversion with no time left on the clock.

“I would have done the same thing,” said Jones about the visitors’ decision to not send out one of the GISA’s best kickers, senior William Ham, for a PAT kick after Stratford scored a miraculous touchdown in regulation’s final play. The Eagles tried to run off left tackle, but the ball carrier was met by a literal swarm of green Hornets.

Thus ended the last ever regular-season football game between these two schools; Stratford is joining the Georgia High School Association in 2014.

About this other mystery – the two penalties at the line of scrimmage occurring at the same time – that scenario had much to do with the dramatic finish.

Stratford quarterback John Mitchell, a senior, scored a 43-yard rushing touchown with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter. Ham made the PAT kick, but Westfield was still ahead by another seven-point combination 21-14.

Everyone got what they expected next: an onsides kickoff. Giles Amos of the Hornets recovered it on a leap at his own 45-yard-line. Westfield ran three plays on the ground, but only netted nine yards. The clock stopped with 35 seconds showing, and Jones called for the punt team.

Those protecting Amos, the punter, did a little shifting, and action at the line brought out flags. Only, there appeared to not be a consensus on what to call among the crew. Eventually, both calls were made to offset each other and replay the down.

Amos got off a punt that rolled to the Eagle 17 and gave the other side 25 seconds.

The key play was on third down when Mitchell scrambled from the 24 and gained the first down. Officials also saw a personal foul against Westfield, so with only five seconds to play, the last snap took place on the Hornet 48.

Mitchell scrambled again and got off a throw deep to the right side. Big senior Jonathan Hefner corralled the tipped football.

So even if it was just a one-point victory and not seven or even 14, it was Westfield’s fourth win in a row. It was also the last non-region game as 1-AAA games begin next with Oct. 11’s trip to Southland in Americus.

Friday was also a straight wing-T vs. wing-T, returning Stratford head coach Mark Farriba installing Jones’ signature sets. The Eagles certainly knew what to do against the wing-T defensively, for the Hornets came nowhere near the 200-plus total in yardage. Leading rusher Chandler Duggan, for one, was below zero in rushing for the first half.

Stratford even had more first downs in the first half, but Westfield had all the points. The scoring drive was set up by the game’s only turnover, Payton Wainwright’s fumble recovery at midfield.

That ended the first Eagle possession. Stuart Smith’s counter run of 11 yards gained first down on the Stratford 35. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw outside to Amos, who stayed up despite tacklers at his legs and picked up 17 yards to the 20.

Fullback Drew McCrory’s trap run gained 10 yards to the 9. From the 10, on third down, Fitzpatrick floated a pass to a leaping Amos for the touchdown at 2:48 of the first quarter. Robert Myatt made the PAT kick for 7-0.

Westfield had just one first down the rest of the half, and that was due to a penalty.

Linebackers Bert Hiley and Wade Walker had big halves against the wing-T themselves, Walker making six tackles in the first quarter. Conner Cawthon had a coverage sack to end the period at a 4th-and-20 on the Stratford 24.

Walker, as the Eagles were looking for another drive deep in their ground, got help from one of the opposing blockers to get to Mitchell for a loss and 3rd-and-10. Tanner Westbrook covered the third-down pass, which was Stratford’s final play of the half.

Westfield, however, still had trouble moving the football on the ground at the start of the second half. Stratford took a punt on its 45 and marched towards the tying score.

From the Hornet 35, Conner Corbitt’s halfback option pass went towards Hefner in double coverage. It was Hefner, though, securing the catch for a spot on the 1. Mitchell snuck over the line at 8:21 of the third.

Westfield’s answer came 1:06 later, and it was from the night’s reliable combination of Fitzpatrick-to-Amos. Amos’ simple 10-yard catch converted third down on the Hornet 33. The next play was a slant route for Amos, and after the catch he sprinted 67 yards for his second touchdown at 7:15.

But with a PAT miss, the score stood at 13-7. For the game, Amos had four catches for 104 yards.

Charlie Ayer recorded two tackles – including a sack – on a three-and-out, and what followed was Westfield’s best drive of the game.

Starting from his own 35, Duggan finally got some space to get the football up to the Eagle 48. Smith then converted third down with a run to the 42.

It was 3rd-and-19 when Duggan took a counter up the middle, broke those tackles and had 27 yards to the Eagle 24. Four times in the drive did Westfield convert on third down, McCrory doing the honors two times, and early in the fourth it was 1st-and-goal on the 3.

Fitzpatrick snuck for a 1-yard touchdown (on fourth down) at 8:49. He then flipped a pass to Duggan for two points and 21-7.

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