Westfield football falls short in heartbreaker to Deerfield-Windsor 

PERRY — It had everything you could ask for in a playoff game: a trip to the state championship on the line, pivotal defensive stops, big plays on fourth down, a raucous crowd cheering on both teams, and unfortunately for Westfield, a heartbreaking finish. 

With 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter and under heavy pressure, Lane Sceals passed the ball to David Hutchins, who turned and dove into the pylon for the go-ahead score as the Deerfield-Windsor Knights defeated the Westfield Hornets 27-24 in a highly anticipated rematch. 

Westfield (9-3) played good, clean football as they fell short of their mark that they set before the season started. 

Deerfield-Windsor (9-3) adopted the ground-and-pound run game for most of the night, but made big plays through the air when they were caught in long yardage situations. 

Both teams traded defensive punches in the first half until the Knights were able to punch one into the end zone as Cole Jones powered in for a two-yard rushing score. 

Jackson St. Clair answered the score with a 52-yard kickoff return to the Deerfield 32-yard line. Three plays later, Brayden Gay found Michael Easom for a 35-yard touchdown on a long 4th-and-13. 

On the ensuing kickoff, the Knights muffed the kick and the returner was taken down at the four-yard line by Grayson Waller. Easom stopped Jones for a two-yard loss and on the next play, Waller picked off Sceals and took the ball to the house to put the Hornets up 14-7 after the two-point conversion by Brock Johnson was successful. 

Picking themselves up by their bootstraps, the Knights answered the pick-six with a 45-yard touchdown run by Jones to tie the game at 14-all with just over six minutes left in the half. 

After a pair of possessions by both teams that failed to generate any points, Westfield returned a punt from midfield to the 15-yard line. Johnson drove 10 yards on three plays to set up a first and goal situation from the five-yard line, only to be brought back to the 10 on a false start penalty. Three incompletions by Gay later, Johnson split the uprights with 38 seconds left in the half to give Westfield a 17-14 lead. 

Thatcher Reddick and Carter Black came through for the Hornets’ defense with multiple stops on the Knights’ opening drive of the third quarter. Neal O’Brien ran Sceals out of bounds, forcing a 4th-and-8 yards to go situation. Sceals found Gabe Daniels for a 32-yard touchdown pass, however the extra point hooked left, putting the score at 20-17 in favor of Deerfield-Windsor.

Westfield failed to move the ball and was forced to punt. The Knights took advantage of their slim lead and drove down the field while eating up the clock. Driving into the red zone, Sceals fired to the right and was intercepted by Mason Easom at the goal line, who returned the ball to the 20-yard line as the Westfield crowd roared in celebration. 

Jackson Hair was a workhouse for the Hornets on their final scoring drive of the night as he bruised through the Knights’ defensive line for multiple first downs and kept the drive alive. On the next play of the drive, pandemonium ensued. 

The ball was snapped and Gay immediately fired left to St. Clair, who weaved through multiple defenders as he looked to break out. One quick cut and St. Clair was en route to the end zone until a Knights’ defensive back slammed into him inside the five-yard line, jarring the ball loose. Sammy McGehee, the sophomore nose guard, picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone, giving Westfield a 24-20 lead with 2:29 remaining on the clock. 

The Hornets threw everything they had at the Knights on the next possession and it was not enough to keep Deerfield-Windsor out of the end zone. 

Westfield received the ball back with 19 seconds remaining on the clock and fought until the buzzer sounded. Gay found Easom, who could not make his way out of bounds and was dropped to the ground by multiple Deerfield-Windsor defenders as the buzzer sounded. 

Westfield head coach Chad Campbell spoke proudly of his team amidst the heartbreaking loss:

“That was a tough way to end the season – I hate it for the kids. It hurts me to see the kids hurt because they put their heart and soul into this season and last year.” 

“We couldn’t have asked anymore from how they practiced and how they played the ball game. They played it the right way – they played how we wanted them to play,” Campbell added. “A few plays here and there, and you know, games like this, it’s a culmination of a few plays that can go either way and [Deerfield-Windsor] made the one that mattered while we didn’t make enough of them. It was a great season and while we came up short of our goal, I am so thankful and proud to be their coach.” 

UP NEXT 

The Westfield Hornets football season finishes with the loss to the Deerfield-Windsor Knights.