On Friday night of October the 18th, William E. Trussell Stadium oversaw the clash of two familiar foes, as the Westfield Bulldogs (4-2) traveled to Centreville High School to face the Wildcats (2-4). The battle between cross-town rivals brought extra hype to the crowd, which brought the largest attendance numbers seen at a game this season. But it was the visiting students wearing white from Westfield that went home happy, as the Bulldogs sealed a 27-19 victory over the Wildcats.

          The Bulldogs dominated the action early. On the opening possession, Westfield’s defense forced a quick three-and-out, leading to senior receiver Connor Morin returning the punt all the way to Centreville’s 6 yard line. The very next play, junior quarterback Ryan Carlson pitched the ball to senior Huda Johnson, who ran it in for a 6 yard touchdown, and Westfield led 7-0 after the extra point. The next Wildcats drive was similar, as they only converted one first down before punting, and Westfield was able to drive down the field again the next series, propelled by catches from Johnson and freshman Malachi Lee. But the Bulldogs drive stalled out around the ten yard line, and they had to settle for a field goal attempt, which was converted by kicker William Wiemann, and Westfield had a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

          Unlike the opening 12 minutes, Centreville’s offense dominated the second quarter and were able to battle back into the game. The Wildcats completed a 22 yard reception to Menyelek Pilgrim on their next drive, which put Centreville across midfield for the first time. Pilgrim, who is committed to play college football for Army University next season, then caught another pass a few plays later, this one going for 20 yards and moving the Wildcats to Westfield’s 18 yard line. Moments later, junior quarterback Will Shields ran in a 7 yard touchdown for Centreville, cutting the score to 10-6, with the Wildcats unsuccessfully faking an extra point after the touchdown. Again, Westfield moved the ball down the field, with senior running back Kennedy Duda breaking off a 33 yard run to Centreville’s 15. But reminiscent of the previous drive, they weren’t able to advance the ball any further, and Wiemann nailed a 31 yard field goal to extend Westfield’s lead at 13-6. The following drive for the Wildcats, Shields completed a 55 yard pass to Pilgrim, who wasn’t brought down until he had run all the way to the Bulldogs 9 yard line. Junior running back James Marion then rushed for a one yard touchdown for Centreville, and the Wildcats evened it at 13-13 after the extra point, which remained the score at the end of the half. 

          With the score tied and a fired up Centreville home crowd, Westfield remained poised with a solid opening drive. The Bulldogs drove down the field, but again stalled out around the 35 yard line. However, they were bailed out by a Centreville lineman jumping across the line of scrimmage early, which gave Westfield a first down on the offsides call, much to the dismay of his teammates, who began jumping up the ground and hollering at the lineman in frustration. From there, Westfield took advantage of the first down gifted by Centreville, with junior running back Binyamin Johnson rushing down to the Wildcats 1 yard line, and Malachi Lee scoring untouched on a handoff on a 3rd and goal. After the extra point, Westfield led 20-13. Westfield regained possession of the ball a few minutes later, after a stop forced by their defense. On a 2nd and 15 from the Wildcats 47 yard line, Carlson faked a handoff, and hurled the ball downfield to Connor Morin, who hauled in the catch and ran into the endzone for a 47 yard touchdown, putting the Bulldogs up 27-13. This was probably the highlight of the game for Westfield, and the Bulldogs student section was in a frenzy. Meanwhile on the other side of the field, it seemed from my angle in the stands that there were a handful of Centreville students heading for the parking lot early. 

          Despite the double digit lead for Westfield, the game was not over just yet. The Bulldogs had numerous chances to ice the game after Morin’s touchdown, and an opportunity to blowout Centreville to make the final score 34-13, or even 41-13. But the Wildcats deserve some credit, as they were able to force two Westfield turnovers in the second half, keeping the door open for Centreville to rally back into the game, and Centreville was able to score another touchdown, with Shields completing another pass to Pilgrim, who scored a ten yard touchdown with around 3 minutes left. But from there, Westfield converted a first down, with Binyamin and Huda Johnson each running for a first down on the final drive, that ultimately allowed Westfield to seal the win, with the final score ending up being 27-19, Westfield. 

          Following the victory against Centreville, Westfield got their 2nd straight win this past week, this one at home against Oakton on homecoming night, with the final score being 42-6. Ryan Carlson threw for two touchdowns, one going to Morin and the other going to junior Hayden Thompson, and ran for one more. Malachi Lee also had a rushing touchdown, and senior Austin Payne recovered a fumble in the end zone for the last of Westfield’s 6 scores. This puts the Bulldogs at 6-2 on the season, and 2-1 in district games, with their losses coming to Patriot and James Madison, who are both state title contenders themselves. 

          So going into the state playoffs, how much of a chance does Westfield really have to raise their fourth state championship banner in the last ten years?  As I mentioned, Westfield currently has a record of 6-2, pending the results of the games against Chantilly and South Lakes, which take place on Saturday, November 2nd, and Friday, November 8th. Chances are, Westfield will finish second in the district, finishing behind the Madison Warhawks, who defeated Westfield 26-21 back on October 10th. That being said, the top 8 teams from each region qualify for the state playoffs, and with 6 wins (might be 7 by the time of publication) the Bulldogs will surely qualify for the playoffs. Once they get there, it’s likely they will face George C. Marshall (6-3,) Herndon (7-2), or Langley High School (7-1) in the first round, with the first round matchup likely taking place at Westfield on Friday, November 15th. 

          From there though, the path to a state title is extremely difficult. If they can win in the first round, they’ll either have to return to Vienna to face Madison (8-0) who is ranked amongst the top public schools in Virginia and #8 in the Washington Post DMV Football Rankings, or travel to Arlington to face a different undefeated team in the Washington-Liberty Generals. Regardless of when they play them, it’s probable that they’ll have to defeat both of those teams if they are to win the regional section of the playoffs, and they would be the underdog in both matchups. If they were to win the region (which would be very impressive itself,) they would then probably have to go to Alexandria to face the Hayfield Hawks (7-1) who is another state championship contender, and ranked #5 in the Washington Post rankings. If they were to beat Hayfield (which would definitely be unexpected,) they could face a team from Richmond or Chesapeake, or play a team from Prince William county like Battlefield or Stafford. 

          To put it lightly, it would take a miraculous run through the playoffs in order for Westfield to win a state championship, but it would certainly be a historic run that would be talked about for years to come in the area.