Published: October 31, 2009 05:21 pm      

Staying in the race

Westwood keeps playoff hopes alive with win

By SCOTT TYLER

Sports Editor



The Westwood Panthers still are in the playoff hunt but it has become a little more complicated.

Westwood (2-2, 5-4) defeated Fairfield (0-4, 0-9) 42-35 Friday night at Panther Stadium to keep its postseason chances alive going into the final week.

Westwood, which sits in fourth place behind a three-way tie for first, has to win against Palestine Friday night to have a chance to make the playoffs. But there may be more to the story. Depending on what happens between Athens and Brownsboro, who also play Friday night, the Panthers may need to defeat Palestine by 17 points to make the playoffs.

“We know we have to win next week,” Westwood head coach Kevin Anderson said Saturday morning. “I am not going to worry about the points because we cannot control that. All that matters for us is that we get a win.”

Westwood put itself in a position to make the playoffs by holding off Fairfield in a must-win situation Friday night. The Eagles took Westwood to the limit, scoring with 45 seconds left to get within seven points and nearly recovered the following on side kick.

“Fairfield is the best 0-9 team around,” Anderson said. “They have good kids and are well coached, things just have not been falling their way.

“Fairfield scratched tooth and nail against us and we did just enough to get a win.”

The Westwood offense has found itself again after struggling midway through the season. There was a stretch in which the Panthers scored less than 20 points in three of four games but Westwood has responded when it needed to, scoring 42 points in each of the last two wins.

“The main thing is that we did not press,” Anderson said of the offense. “We realized we were good on offense, made some changes and kept doing what we did earlier to have success.”

After losses to Brownsboro and Athens to start district play, Westwood made changes to the offensive line, moving starters around the line.

“We kept the same starters but they all moved positions,” Westwood offensive coordinator Roger Mays said. “They have responded and we seemed to have found the right combination.”

After not rushing for 100 yards in four straight games, Westwood rushed for 197 against Crockett last week and had 301 yards — their second highest total of the season — against Fairfield.

“After watching film, I realize our running game looked really good,” Mays said. “The offensive line played well and Cameron (Shead) ran the ball real hard.”

Shead, who was sidelined two games ago against Athens due to a nagging injury, rushed for 154 yards on 16 carries. He had a critical 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give Westwood a 35-21 lead.

“Cameron has stepped back in and picked up where he left off before getting hurt,” Mays said. “He has been on top of his game right now.”

Wide receiver Domanick Turner also had a big night for the Panthers, catching three touchdowns passes and rushing for another score.

“That is what Domanick has done all year long,” Mays said. “He has big play potential.”

Turner broke a 15-all tie at the end of the first half when he caught a fourth down pass and turned it into a 14-yard touchdown to give Westwood a 22-15 halftime lead.

“Fairfield was stacked up against the run so we thought we could get the middle of the field open,” Mays said.

Turner added a 35-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter when quarterback Tevin Watson rolled away from pressure and found his receiver deep down the field.

Turner’s final touchdown finished off a four-minute drive in the fourth quarter that ran the clock under two minutes. On third and 18, Watson found Turner in the middle of the field again, and the wide receiver made the catch, turned around and raced into the end zone for the 22-yard score to give Westwood a 42-28 lead.

Fairfield responded by scoring on eight plays that took only a minute off the clock, cutting the lead to 42-35 on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Green. Westwood looked to have forced a fumble on the play, but officials ruled that Green had crossed the goal line before Westwood stripped the ball.

The Eagles then had a chance to get the ball back, recovering an on side kick, but Fairfield was offsides. On the second on side kick, Shead recovered the ball and Westwood sealed the win.

“I was proud of the kids,” Anderson said. “It was a gut wrenching game that went back and forth and we found a way to get the win.”

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Scott Tyler may be contacted via e-mail at styler@palestineherald.com