Westwood defeats First Presbyterian Christian in opener

CAMIILA — From the opening kickoff, it was apparent that the Westwood Wildcats would have their hands full with First Presbyterian Christian Academy. It came down to key plays in the second half as the Wildcats went on to win their season opener 28-14 at Centennial Stadium.

Westwood’s offense was quite fluid in the second half as it started with a 54-yard drive that was capped off by Tyler Harris’ 25-yard touchdown run. There were several re-tries on the ensuing point after attempt and ultimately, Westwood would botch the 2-point conversion but take a 14-8 lead with 9:04 left in the third.

“We challenged them a little bit at halftime to come out and play a little bit harder and not stand around, but do things they had been coached to do, and they responded, did a bit better in the second half,” Westwood head coach Ross Worsham said.

FPCA answered with one final touchdown with 1:52 left, but at that point, it was too late.

The Wildcats were able to put more distance between them and FPCA in the fourth quarter as Harris completed another solid drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Zack Howell took it in for two and the Wildcats went ahead 22-8.

FPCA had a huge opportunity to score well inside the red zone, but the Wildcats pushed FPCA quarterback Isaiah Dickey from about the 10 to outside the 25-yard line on one play. FPCA had one more shot on that same drive after a costly pass interference call on Westwood, but the defense held tough and forced a turnover on downs.

Harris put the game on ice officially with his third touchdown of the game, a 76-yard scamper with 5:47 left to play. Harris was in for the Reid Ford, who dislocated his finger in the first half, and Worsham said the sophomore had a huge impact.

He’s young and he has a chance to be special. He ran hard and again, offensive line opened up some holes for him to have those opportunities. And we tell our kids, you never know when your name’s gonna be called because somebody’s hurt so you gotta stay ready and Tyler was ready.”

The game started with a very short Westwood kick that FPCA’s Khalyn Weekly returned about 60 yards for a FPCA touchdown. After the successful 2-point conversion, FPCA went up 8-0 with about 11:48 left.

Westwood would cover some ground on their first possession, marching 41 yards before ultimately fumbling inside the red zone. Austin Hendrix recovered and FPCA then started their second drive of the game at their own 17-yard line.

The Wildcat defense held, forcing a turnover on downs inside the FPCA territory. The offense had trouble getting in sync and would lose yardage on the drive before getting back to the original line of scrimmage.

Westwood caught a huge break as quarterback Zach Howell’s pass was tipped in the air and Jacob Singleton hauled in the tipped pass. He’d take it 25 yards for the score and after punching in the 2-point conversion, the game was tied at 8-8 with 2:16 left in the first.

With the half coming to a close, Westwood would draw a roughing the passer call on FPCA and moved the chains, but FPCA answered with an interception a few plays later and both teams went into the halftime break knotted up at eight.

Westwood is 1-0 on the season and will remain at home next Friday as they take on Windsor Academy. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.