History was not on the side of the Washington-Liberty Generals in taking on the Westfield Bulldogs when the two undefeated high-school football teams met Friday night (Sept. 19).
Westfield (3-1) had never lost to W-L — nor had the games been close — in the eight times the non-district opponents played.
Times have changed.
Visiting Washington-Liberty (4-0) rallied to take a late lead, then hung on to nip the perennial region power and multi-time state champion Bulldogs, 14-13, from the Concorde District.
“That is a huge win for our program and for our players’ confidence this season,” W-L coach Josh Shapiro told ARLnow.
Entering the game, Shapiro was confident the Bulldogs could be competitive, at least this season with Westfield.
“We just wanted to go there and play a good game against a good team to see where we are at this point of the season,” Shapiro said.
Washington-Liberty was able to win because its defense played physical and stingy and the offensive line opened holes and helped running back Brayden Black power forward for 155 yards rushing on 26 carries and two touchdowns.
His scoring runs came in the second half, after W-L trailed 7-2 at halftime.
Through four games Black has rushed for 524 yards.
“We leaned on our offensive line being physical, then Brayden was physical with his runs,” Shapiro said. “We drilled the running game very hard all week in practice. We knew we had to run well to have a chance to win. Our line is one of the best we’ve had. It’s very good.”
That line consists of Cooper Colucia, Grant Siebert, Christopher Gonzalez Ferrufino, Bennett Potts, Daniel Camacho Torrico, Aron Jacome Valenzuela, Anthony Fonseca and Lucas Munoz-Lopez.
In the win, Washington-Liberty gained 165 yards on the ground, as Jasper Dennis ran for 22. Quarterback Tyler Flint-Steinig was 9 of 19 passing for 79 yards with one interception.
Trevor Fullen had three catches and David Toepel and Black (15 yards) two each. Dennis had 50 yards in kick returns.
Westfield took a 7-0 lead on the second play of the game as Flint-Steinig’s interception was returned for a touchdown. Washington-Liberty’s only first-half points came on a safety.
The Generals took an early 8-7 lead in the fourth quarter, then Westfield answered to move ahead 13-8, failing on a two-point conversion. Washington-Liberty then scored the game’s final TD to move ahead 14-13 with just over 2 minutes to play, as its second two-point conversion attempt failed, as well.
Westfield had two final possessions, but didn’t move the ball much or threaten to score.
“Our defense was physical and lights-out all night, and their defense was very good and physical too,” Shapiro said.
Henry Fonseca-Cruz, Miles Whitaker, Jack Eustice, Dillon Hathorn, Lando Reed, Lavand Aqrawi, Maximus De La Vega and Jeremiah Saunders were among tackling leaders for Washington-Liberty.
Westfield had 209 total yards.
Washington-Liberty, which finished second in the 6D North Region last season with a single-season and program best 12-1 record, next faces the host Centreville Wildcats (2-1), also from the Concorde District, on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
NOTE: Prior to Washington-Liberty’s Sept. 19 win over Westfield, the closest score in the previous eight meetings was 21-3. The next closest was 30-10. The Generals’ win over Westfield marked its first against a Concorde District team in the 19 seasons Shapiro has coached the team.
