Westview helps boost Milan’s 13AA position
Posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 12:00 pm
By ALLISON JONES
Special to The Press
Westview came into Friday night’s contest with district foe Milan tied for first place in District 13AA play. But, turnovers and big plays proved to be the difference, as the Chargers fell 31-6 and picked up their first league loss.
The Westview offense was able to put up 217 yards of total offense on the Bulldogs.
Junior quarterback Matt Castleman went 10-of-20 through the air for 101 yards but threw two costly interceptions, both of which led to points by the Bulldog offense.
Senior Quan Williams led the rushing attack with 15 carries for 69 yards, followed by junior Ty Brown with two carries for 28 yards.
Milan’s offense just proved too explosive for the young Charger defense, putting up 355 total yards.
Thirteen of their plays were for at least 10 yards, including a 70-yard bomb from quarterback Caleb Powell to Octavious Cook for a touchdown.
After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their opening possession, the Chargers were moving the ball into Bulldog territory but the drive came up short after a Castleman interception at the Bulldog 39-yard-line.
Milan wasted no time. Led by running back T.J. Bryson, the Bulldogs marched 76 yards down the field.
A Powell three-yard keeper for a touchdown capped off the drive, giving the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
Westview provided an answer on their next possession, working their way down to the Bulldog four, but was unable to reach the end zone and had to settle for a Cal Bradshaw 23-yard field goal, cutting the Bulldog lead to 7-3.
That was the closest the Chargers would ever get.
It only took four plays for the Bulldogs to reach the end zone again. This time, it was Bryson who reached paydirt for the Bulldogs on a 29-yard run.
He added another touchdown before the end of the half, this one from four yards out.
Castleman was picked off again on the first play of Westview’s next drive, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Charger 25-yard line.
This time the defense came up with a stop, forcing a Caleb Appleton 22-yard field goal and giving the Bulldogs a 24-3 lead going into the half.
“Milan is a good team, and they’re hard enough to stop when they’re going 80 yards,” said Westview head coach Don Coady. “That’s the most disappointing thing, that we didn’t make them work hard enough for their scores.”
Westview’s offense would come out strong in the second half.
A couple big plays, including a 24-yard Quan Williams carry and a 27-yard Castleman-to-Beau Kelly pass, the Chargers found themselves at the Bulldog 15-yard-line.
But they were once again unable to reach the end zone and settled for another Bradshaw field goal, this time from 32 yards out.
“When you’re giving up touchdowns on short fields and driving the length of the field and settling for field goals, that’s not an even trade-off,” Coady said.
The Bulldogs looked to answer once again on their following possession, moving the ball all the way to the four.
The Charger defense came up good once again, this time forcing a fumble on the four-yard line.
The Bulldogs still had one more big play left.
On their first drive of the fourth quarter, Powell connected with Cook for a 70-yard touchdown pass providing the final score of 31-6.
“If we stick a couple in for touchdowns on offense, we keep it a closer game,” Coady said. “I don’t think the score was indicative of how hard our kids played. I liked the effort our kids. We played a lot batter in the second half then we did in the first. I honestly think we’re miles closer to being able to compete and beat a team like Milan then we were a month ago.”
The Chargers will look to get back on track in district play next week when they travel to Dyersburg. Published in The WCP 10.2.12
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Westview helps boost Milan’s 13AA position
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