Heartbreaker ends Westfield's quest for three-peat
PERRY -- The scene on the field was a familar one for Westfield on Friday night at Marvin Arrington Stadium.
This time, however, the jubilation was some 40 yards away as visiting Valwood was the team doing the celebrating after edging the Hornets 27-26 in a thrilling GISA Class AAA semifinal. The loss ends Westfield's quest to win its third straight championship with both of the Hornets' losses this season coming to the Valiants.
Valwood (11-2) advances to face Deerfield-Windsor in the state championship Nov. 28 at Five Star Stadium. Westfield's season ends with an 11-2 record.
"Hat's off to Westfield on a heck of a run and heck of a season. It's tough to go like they do and week in and week out get everybody's best shot," Valwood head coach Ashley Henderson said. "Our guys were just resilient all night. Our defense got a hold when we needed it most and we were able to get in there and run out the clock."
Westfield fell behind by one with 6:09 to play after Valwood quarterback Jacob Parker's pass toward the end zone on fourth-and-11 from the Westfield 35-yard line was hauled in by a diving Chris Retterbush. The Valiants' receiver had a monster of a night, catching six passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns of 17, 63 and 35 yards in the second half from Parker.
Despite being behind, and with senior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick back in the game after having to leave for a handful of plays after his lower left leg was injured on the end of a run, the Hornets had a shot to retake the lead. A 14-yard pass on fourth down from Fitzpatrick to Austin Burnette kept hopes of a win alive with 2:13 to play. Those chances faded, however, quickly. A short run and an intentional grounding penalty backed Westfield up to its own 38 on fourth down, and Fitzpatrick's pass fell short with 59 seconds to play, allowing the Valiants to run out the clock.
Fitzpatrick and Westfield's passing game came alive in the second half after not competing a pass in the first two quarters. He finished 5-of-7 for 128 yards and rushed for 67 yards on 12 carries on a night in which he rushed for one score and threw for another.
Valwood didn't allow any Westfield player to rush for more than 100 yards. Austin Burnette's 76 yards led Westfield.
Fitzpatrick capped off a 78-yard run to start the third quarter on a 1-yard score and connected with Gavin Edmondson for 56 yards with 3:15 to go in the third that gave the Hornets a 26-14 advantage.
The lead turned out not to be quite safe enough with Valwood's offense, held to just seven points in the first half, coming alive for 208 second-half passing yards. Behind 19-7 in the third, Retterbush hauled in a 17-yarder to answer the score. Then, moments after Westfield led 26-14 late in the third quarter, Retterbush found space off a screen pass to sprint 63 yards to pull the Valiants within five points, down 26-21.
Then in the fourth quarter, Retterbush tormented Westfield again. Westfield only needed to stop Valwood once more in order to take over on downs at the Hornets' 35 and make a big move toward running out the clock. But Parker found Retterbush down the middle, and he made the catch for a go-ahead score.
The Hornets led early, capping a pair of lengthy drives with two scores of three and six yards from Josh Jenkins for a 12-0 lead. The Valiants got on the board just before half when Parker's fourth-down pass from 20 yards away to Sam Martin was good for a touchdown.
This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Heartbreaker ends Westfield's quest for three-peat ."