Westfield dominates Tiftarea Academy for four quarters to advance to second consecutive semifinals

PERRY — Things were very different the last time Westfield and Tiftarea Academy played each other.

The Panthers scored with 40 seconds left to take their first lead of the game in their eventual 20-19 win over the Hornets, who’d lost two straight at the end of the night.

Westfield was 2-0 after the first two weeks of the season and had outscored their opponents 72-0, but faced some challenges as they tried to figure out their identity amidst injuries.

Fast forward to November and Westfield has claimed back-to-back district championships, and after Friday night’s 42-6 final, are going back to the semifinals.

“We had a conversation after that [Tiftarea] game,” Head coach Chad Campbell said on the turning point of their season. “When they came back to practice Monday…they put a good week of work in and we performed well on Friday night [against First Presbyterian Day], I think that gave them a little confidence.”

The Hornets rattled off five straight, and though they lost the regular season finale to St. Anne-Pacelli, they won their sixth out of seven games in a complete domination of Tiftarea.

Both sides of the ball came out ready to throw haymakers.

The defense got a third down stop on the first drive of the game, and shortly into Westfield’s first offensive drive Brock Johnson found Stone St. Clair on a 71-yard house call to (permanently) take the lead.

On the ensuing possession Liam Sexton nearly had himself a pick six, but was brought down on the Tiftarea four-yard line before the offense finished the job to go up 14-0.

St. Clair pushed the advantage to 28-0 with less than a minute to go in the first half, and overall the offense was only two points short of their season high.

The defense nearly matched their season-best in points allowed until a trick play scored six for Tiftarea Academy two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Westfield’s offense and defense were a lethal one-two combo, one that had the Panthers on the ropes by halftime.

Tiftarea’s offense is not conducive to big comebacks, so pouncing on them early was big for the Hornets on Friday.

“[When we] got that pick, that kind of [acted as a] springboard,” Campbell said. “[Tiftarea isn’t] a team to come from behind [or] like to throw the ball around. Extremely proud of the kids. Extremely proud for the seniors in their last game here. They’ll always remember this ball game being the last one in the Hornets’ Nest. Glad that we can make something very memorable for them.”