Westfield football secures district title with win over St. Anne-Pacelli 

PERRY — In a strategic football chess match, the Westfield Hornets defeated the St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings 26-10 to clinch their first district championship since 2015.

Westfield (8-2, 4-0 GIAA District 5-3A) methodically dismantled the Vikings as they played to their strengths and kept the ball in their possession for the majority of the game. 

St. Anne-Pacelli (4-5, 2-2 District) could not generate any type of momentum throughout the night and played right into Westfield’s hand at times. 

The Vikings returned the opening kickoff to the Hornets territory, however, the drive stalled out in the red zone as Michael Easom sacked Jack Fry on fourth down and forced a turnover on downs, giving Westfield the ball. 

Jackson Hair and the Westfield offense marched down the field, eating up the rest of the first quarter and extending their time of possession into the second quarter. Brayden Gay found Jackson St. Clair in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. 

One bad punt later had St. Anne-Pacelli taking over on the Westfield 29-yard line. The Vikings’ drive was not without its share of trouble as a fumble set their offense back at the 40-yard line, then Neal O’Brien sacked their quarterback for a loss. O’Brien would record his second sack of the night later in the third quarter. 

The Hornets took over at their own 23-yard line following a turnover on downs by the Vikings. Westfield used the same method of success on their first drive and meticulously moved down the field to score their second touchdown of the night on a one-yard “Brotherly Shove.” The Hornets took a 13-0 lead into the locker room at halftime as they missed the extra point attempt. 

On the kickoff to start the second half, St. Clair returned the ball 95 yards to the house, giving Westfield a 19-0 lead after the extra point attempt was good. 

The Vikings had their own big play as Jason Davis broke a couple of tackles and ran up the field 80 yards to put the score at 19-7. 

Gay took over on the ensuing possession, ripping off a couple of runs for needed yardage and spreading passes out between the receivers, including a 30-yard pass to Stone St. Clair. Gay found Jackson St. Clair for their second touchdown connection to give the Hornets a 26-7 lead over the Vikings.

Thatcher Reddick picked off Davis at the four-yard line as St. Anne-Pacelli was threatening to score towards the end of the third quarter. Westfield would drive down the field once more strategically taking time off the clock while keeping the ball away from the opposition, however, the drive resulted in zero points as the field goal attempt fell short. 

The Vikings took advantage of the field position and ended up kicking a field goal to put the final score at 26-10 as Westfield ran the clock out. 

Westfield head coach Chad Campbell celebrated the win with his team and was already looking ahead to the upcoming playoffs: “The team played well tonight. Offensively, we only had the ball three times in the first half and scored twice – the team has been improving every week for the past four to five weeks.” 

“We are healthy right now, which is good and helps our success,” Campbell added. “Brayden played pretty well, the kickoff return [by Jackson St. Clair] to start the second half was big – that is the first one we have returned in a while because no one would kick it to us. Apart from the big run we gave up on [St. Anne-Pacelli] first possession of the second half, our defense played well. The first part of the season is over with, now we move onto the real season. I like the way we are playing, the team is playing well together, and our goal is to win three more games.” 

UP NEXT 

The Westfield Hornets await their first-round opponent for the GIAA playoffs.