Palomo’s 3 TDs lift Mustangs
Spring had the higher ranking. Westfield had the stronger motivation.
Sparked by last year’s last-second loss to the rival Lions, Westfield got a pick-six from De’Marion Stamps and three touchdown catches from wide receiver Da’John Palomo as the Mustangs stunned Spring 31-21 on Friday night at Planet Ford Stadium.
“That loss was heartbreaking, so we knew we had to work harder, come back harder and get our lick back,” said Palomo, who finished with five catches for 155 yards.
“We worked hard in practice and stuck to the game plan,” he said. “We knew what the outcome was going to be. We just had to execute it.”
The win was Westfield’s second over a No. 2 team this season.
Spring (4-1 overall, 1-1 District 14-6A) came in at No. 2 in the area 6A rankings, and North Shore was No. 2 when it lost 27-21 to Westfield three weeks ago.
“Our coaches have come up with some pretty good game plans, and our players have executed them,” Westfield coach Matt Meekins said. “That was the best we’ve played on the offensive line all year, not that we’ve played bad. But we’re playing really good competition. North’s a really good team, and Hightower knocked off Manvel, so us playing some really good teams early on prepares us for games like this.
“We’re in pretty good shape.” No. 5 Westfield (5-0, 2-0) won by making sure Spring quarterback Bishop Davenport was miserable all night. His fourth pass was intercepted by Stamps and returned 67 yards for an early 7-0 Westfield lead. Then he lost a fumble that led to a Westfield score and was sacked on back-to-back plays — all in the first quarter.
Westfield sacked Davenport six times on the night and intercepted him twice.
Two more sacks came on backto-back plays that forced a turnover on downs in Westfield territory in the second quarter.
Ja’Quille Carr and Anthony Holmes supplied two sacks apiece, and Ray Jones and Brian Eashmond had one each.
Linebacker Kiemond Emilien’s interception with 37 seconds to play put an exclamation point on the victory.
“We came out a little bit flat in the first half, and they hit us right in the mouth,” Spring coach Trent Miller said. “But I am extremely proud of the way my guys responded in the second half. We came out hot, they didn’t hang their head, they didn’t just take it.
“Do we have some stuff we have to clean up? Absolutely, but this is the first time we’ve been battletested all year. They came out swinging and we didn’t.”
Spring answered Westfield’s first score with a game-tying drive capped by Davenport’s 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bralen Martin, who picked up a key block near the 10. But Davenport’s fumble on Spring’s next series led to a 43-yard TD catch by Palomo and a 14-7 advantage. Westfield didn’t trail again. Palomo hauled in 32- and 44yard touchdowns in the second quarter for a 28-7 halftime lead.
Spring rallied with two scores in the second half. Running back Myron Carter threw a touchdown pass to Martin (six receptions for 101 yards) on a trick play in the third, and Davenport’s 12-yard strike to wide receiver Joshua Lopez cut the deficit to 28-21 with 9:05 to play. But Westfield kicker Jonathan Dimas hit a 34-yard field goal with 50 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
“(The early pick-six) got our defense going, got some flow going, and our offense didn’t have to go out there and score first, and be the first unit to do something,” Meekins said.
Westfield finished with 323 total yards and 15 first downs.
Quarertback Cardel Williams was 12-of-23 for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Travis Sims Jr. had six grabs for 105 yards.
Spring had 396 total yards and 22 first downs but committed three critical turnovers — and couldn’t keep Davenport (24-of-43 for 332 yards) upright long enough.
“They’re empty, so they go five wides the majority of the game, and spread you out,” Meekins said. “So you’ve got to get pressure with four, and then when we tried to get pressure with five, Davenport burned us a few times. And we let some guys go in coverage, but luckily some of those didn’t get completed, or it might have been a different game.”