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Westview finds path to points

Westview finds path to points

Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 12:03 pm

Westview finds path to points | Westview finds path to points
By RANDY CAVIN
Special to The Press
A 28-point second quarter outburst ended a seven-quarter scoreless drought for Westview and also ended a two-game losing streak in the win against Crockett County Friday night.
The Chargers’ offensive line did its job and did it well in the 35-7 win.
The offensive line gave the Charger quarterbacks plenty of time to find their targets and punched open some running lanes for Quan Williams and the rest of the Charger running backs.
With a 28-0 halftime lead, head coach Don Coady opted to sit quarterback Ryne Vinson in the second half and let Matt Castleman run the offense.
Vinson was near perfect in passing completing 6-of-7 for 78 yards and no interceptions. Castleman went 2-of-3 for 23 yards, and Will Thompson completed his only attempt for 33 yards on a halfback pass to Scout Edwards, who caught four passes for 87 yards.
Williams scored two touchdowns on the ground in the second quarter, while Wyatt Zarecor and Abraham Haddad each had scoring runs.
Ten different players ran the ball for the Chargers as they totaled up 269 yards on the ground. Williams led all rushers with 102 yards on 16 carries with his longest run coming in the first quarter on a 22-yard gain. Zarecor carried the ball 10 times for 86 yards with 51 coming on one play early in the second quarter. Zarecor scored the only touchdown in the second for the Chargers.
The Chargers amassed 408 total yards of offense for the game while holding the Cavaliers to 161 yards. Westview’s defense forced the Cavaliers to punt the ball seven times in the game.
The Chargers, shutout in the previous game against Dyersburg and held scoreless for six quarters, were looking like they may end that scoreless streak in the first quarter, but a missed field goal from 37 yards out kept the scoreless drought going until the second quarter.
The defense dominated the Cavaliers offense in the first half, holding them to just 20 total yards. The offensive line of the Chargers had their way with the Cavaliers’ front line throughout the first half as they helped the running game pick up 160 yards on the ground. Westview had 10 first downs in the half while Crockett County only had one first down.
“We needed to score some points offensively and tonight we found some,” Coady said.
The offense had five plays that gained more than 20 yards in the game and this was the first time this season the offense got really cranked up.
“It is the first time all year we really have had any big plays. We threw the halfback pass for a big play, and I don’t know if we ever really broke any all the way into the end zone, but we set ourselves up in a scoring position,” Coady said.
Coady said his team moved the ball against Dyersburg but just could not put it in the end zone, and for this game they spent a lot of practice time in the red zone to work out the kinks in their red zone scoring.
“I thought we were very efficient in the red zone tonight as far as executing our offense and getting our plays in the end zone,” Coady said.
With a 35-0 lead midway through the third quarter, Coady took his first team offense and defense out. Crockett County took advantage of the inexperienced second unit early in the fourth quarter when Johnny Jones took a handoff and went around on the left side for an 80-yard touchdown run. That was the lone setback for the Chargers’ defense in the game.
Each team had one turnover on a fumble, but neither one led to a score. The Chargers were penalized eight times for 88 yards.
The game was not only a matchup between district foes; it was also a matchup with Coady against one of his former assistants. Cavalier head coach Kevin Ward spent 11 seasons working as Coady’s assistant before moving on to be Camden’s head coach. This is Ward’s first season with Crockett County.
“We played him nearly every year since he was over at Camden, so it is a nearly every year occurrence and sometimes twice a year. Kevin Ward is a tremendous football coach, a great person and one of my very best friends in the coaching profession,” Coady said of his former assistant. “It is like the kind of rivalry you have with your brother.”
With this win, the Chargers edge a little closer to a playoff berth. It improves their chances to get an at-large bid in Class 3A.
“We are sitting there right on the playoff bubble and we could not stand anymore losses. Generally speaking, .500 or better usually gets you in, but you are taking some chances when you do not have very many wins,” Coady said. “We evened our record tonight and we go on the road our next game and hopefully get another win.”
Published in The WCP 10.18.11