By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – For the first time in what seemed like a long time, the Westfield football team had to deal with a little bit of adversity Friday night.
The Shamrocks were hosting Homestead in the Class 6A Regional 2 championship at Riverview Health Stadium. Early in the second quarter, the Spartans did something that no team had been able to do to Westfield in the past month: Take the lead.
Homestead was up 9-7, but that would be it. The Shamrocks shut out the Spartans for the remainder of the game, and cruised to a 42-9 victory. This is Westfield’s first-ever regional title in Class 6A, and its fifth overall. The ‘Rocks last won a regional in 2016.
“That’s a very good team that we just beat,” said Westfield coach Jake Gilbert. “Very well-coached. I’m impressed as heck with our team to be ready, our staff to have them ready like this.”
In addition to being prepared, the Shamrocks also had players step up, and do so in new roles. One example of that was Carson Voorhis. Normally a receiver, Voorhis moved into the running back position after Micah Hauser was held out from this game due to injury.
Voorhis performed well in his new role, leading Westfield in rushing with 100 yards in 10 carries. He made several big runs in the first quarter that would set up touchdown plays. On the Shamrocks’ first drive, Voorhis ran for 15 yards, then made a 20-yard dash that got Westfield to the five-yard line. Maximus Webster then grinded the ball into the end zone, scoring on third-and-1.
“Carson Voorhis, first time ever playing running back, not too bad,” said Gilbert. “So he stepped in there and did a great job. I was just proud of everybody for the contributions they made.”
Webster’s touchdown and Sean Sullivan’s extra-point kick put the Shamrocks up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game. Homestead got on the board midway through the first on a field goal, making the score 7-3. That margin would stand through the end of the period.
The Spartans took their 9-7 lead just 25 seconds into the second quarter on a huge 62-yard pass play touchdown from Nate Anderson to Jared Kistler. Westfield responded right away, however: Webster tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Nic Depasquale with 10:06 left in the second quarter, and the ‘Rocks would never trail again.
Webster would be involved in each of the six touchdowns Westfield scored in the regional. Minutes after his throw to Depasquale, Webster sent a 22-yard pass to Reid Schepers, who took it into the end zone. Then with less than two minutes left in the half, Webster punched the ball in from the three-yard line. After briefly trailing, the Shamrocks led 28-9 at the break.
Webster and Schepers would team up for two more touchdowns in the third quarter, scoring on 13-yard and 16-yard pass plays. Webster finished the game 16-of-23 through the air, totaling 239 yards and also had 77 yards rushing.
“He was pretty awesome,” said Gilbert.
DePasquale led the receptions with five, while Schepers and Jackson Wasserstrom both had four catches. Gilbert also had special praise for Jack Pfeiffer, who came in and made plays for Westfield despite being hurt; the coach said that Pfeiffer was “pretty heroic” to help the team out.
“That’s what seniors do, and I was really impressed just with his toughness, because he was hurt more than he let on,” said Gilbert.
Sullivan made all six extra-point kicks after each score. Kyle Pape and McGuire Graybill both had five tackles on defense, with David Frey, Seth Martin and Zander Nguyen each making four stops. Benji Welch caught two interceptions.
Westfield is now 11-1 for the season and will travel to Merrillville next Friday to play in the 6A north semi-state game. The Pirates won a back-and-forth game with Elkhart 27-24 for the Regional 1 championship.
WESTFIELD 42, HOMESTEAD 9
Score by Quarters
Homestead 3 6 0 0 – 9
Westfield 7 21 14 0 – 42
Team Stats HOM WF
First Downs 18 25
By Rush 6 9
By Pass 11 13
By Penalty 1 3
Rushes-Yards 21-84 35-203
Yards Passing 224 247
Comp-Att-Int-TD 19-33-2-1 17-25-1-4
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-134 7-56
Punts-Average 3-38.3 0-0.0
Westfield scoring
First Quarter
9:24 – Maximus Webster 1-yard run (Sean Sullivan kick)
Second Quarter
10:06 – Nic Depasquale 17-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
8:25 – Reid Schepers 22-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
1:55 – Webster 3-yard run (Sullivan kick)
Third Quarter
7:12 – Schepers 13-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
3:02 – Schepers 16-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
Westfield individual stats
Rushing: Carson Voorhis 10-100, Webster 13-77, Ryan Creager 3-13, Cole Ballard 6-9, Jack Pfeiffer 4-8, Grant Harlowe 2-minus 4, team 1-0.
Passing: Webster 16-23-239, Nick Talley 1-2-8.
Receiving: DePasquale 5-59, Schepers 4-52, Jackson Wassestron 4-45, Voorhis 2-32, Mason Piening 1-51, Lindsey Collin 1-8.