Published: November 19, 2007 02:17 pm      

WHS making history in playoffs

By SALLY SEXTON

H-P Sports Writer



For the Westwood Panthers, Friday night’s playoff game against Diboll was the first playoff appearance for Westwood in 15 years. And after such a long wait, the Panthers weren’t ready to go anywhere.

Westwood won the game 65-59 to keep their season alive, and break school history by being the first Panther team to get a playoff win.

“We’re grateful and fortunate that we get to play next week, and the coaching staff and myself are very excited,” Westwood head coach Kevin Anderson said. “I think the win is positive for the team and the organization. Hopefully, we’re getting something started here.”

Westwood will take on the winner of the China Spring-Rockdale game, who play tonight in Waco. Next week’s game will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Baylor’s Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco.

The big story on Friday was the play of the Panther offense, which has shown its talent and ability many times throughout the season.

Led by quarterback Gralyn Crawford, Westwood racked up 685 yard on offense, getting more than 300 yards in both the passing and rushing games.

Crawford was 13-of-19 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. He led the rushing game with 167 yards on 35 carries and three more touchdowns.

“Gralyn had a season high in rushing and in passing yards,” Westwood offensive coordinator Steven Skinner said. “Half of that was him throwing good passes and the other half was the receivers catching.”

George White had a team-high four catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. Bruce Smith followed with 126 yards on four receptions and two touchdowns, including a 99-yard catch from Crawford in the first quarter.

“The receivers had a good night overall. They blocked and caught the ball well,” Skinner said. “They put their toughest defender on (Alan) Thompson, which allowed George to take advantage.”

Thompson finished with two catches for 18 yards.

Another bright spot for Westwood was the kicking game of place-kicker Tyler Dillon, who converted all nine attempts on the night, and has made 27-of-29 extra point attempts this season.

“If he would have made only two of the nine, we would have lost the game,” Skinner said. “When it comes down to it, they all add up, so it’s important to have a good kicking game.”

The Panthers’ defense struggled to contain Diboll tailback Ketaurus Stanton, who finished with 426 yards on 25 carries.

The defense played strong in the first three quarters, allowing the team to build up a 29-point lead before giving up three consecutive scores in the final 10 minutes of the game.

“We knew the final score should have been different, but we let them back in,” Anderson said. “But a win is a win, despite how close it was. We’re not going to be choosy about how it got done.”

Notes: Westwood running back D.J. Morrow had 25 carries for 149 yards and an 11-yard touchdown. ... He completed his only pass of the game to Crawford for a 27-yard score. ... Diboll’s Stanton set a new school record for carries and rushing yards in a game. He scored six touchdowns for the Lumberjacks.

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Sally Sexton can be reached via e-mail at sports2@palestineherald.com