Westlake shuts out McDonough Rams
Wolverines score 24 2nd-half points
The Westlake Wolverines showed how explosive the offense can be in just one quarter during Saturday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Chesapeake Division football contest.
Behind two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Chad Palmer and a rushing touchdown from his younger brother Collin Palmer, the Wolverines scored 22 points in the third quarter en route to a 30-0 win over the McDonough Rams at North Point High School.
The contest served as Westlake’s homecoming game as it was forced to play at North Point due to wet fields on its home field.
The Wolverines (4-1, 1-0 SMAC Chesapeake), who bounced back from a 30-18 setback of North Point in Week 4, will travel to take on host Lackey in a division game scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday. Lackey (4-1, 1-0) eked out a 3-0 win on Friday at Patuxent.
“The penalties are killing us and every time we had a big play in the first half it was called back,” Westlake head coach Tony Zaccarelli said. “When we take care of that, we can score points every time we touch the football. We just have to be more disciplined. In the second half we responded well to it.”
The Westlake defense held the Rams, who fumbled the ball away three times in the game, to just 57 yards of total offense on only six first downs.
“This was a great win
after a tough loss last week,” Westlake defensive end Diondre Greer said. “We had to get back to the tradition of Westlake football. We just want to keep it going. Passing rushing is my thing and I get excited going after the quarterback. Our defense are ball-hawks. Next week is going to be a show versus Lackey.”
The game was scoreless for much of the first half, but Westlake finally broke the drought when senior running back Malik Opiyo scampered for a 43-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds left in the first half to give it a 6-0 halftime lead. The Wolverines, as a team, rushed for 174 yards on 34 carries.
Westlake, quickly got the offense going in the third as Chad Palmer, who completed 8 for 11 passes for 97 yards, threw back-to-back touchdowns. The first was a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior Jordan Brumfield at the 9 minute 3 seconds mark to give the Wolverines a 14-0 lead after the two-point conversion. The second was a 7-yard pass for six to junior Johnathan Barnes to push the lead to 21-0 after the Rams had fumbled the ball away on the kickoff.
“At halftime our coaching staff made some adjustments,” Chad Palmer said, “so we made some hybrid and check reads and my offensive line gave me time to throw.”
With 1:26 left in the quarter, Collin Palmer found a lane on the hand-off and broke for an 89-yard touchdown run to give the Wolverines a 28-0 lead after the extra point.
“When I broke the long run everyone got so excited and pumped up,” Collin Palmer said. “We just have to cut down on our mistakes and we will be fine.”
Westlake tacked on two more points with 4:13 left in the game, forcing a safety after tackling Rams punter Brant Butler in the end zone from a fumbled snap.
“We were banged up coming into the game and we don’t have a lot of depth already,” McDonough head coach Jonathan Briscoe said. “It was a tough loss today, but like you said we fought hard in the first half, but we are going to evaluate the film and get ready for next week.”
The Rams have now lost four games in a row, two by shutout. They will take on host Thomas Stone at 7 p.m. Friday in a division contest. The Cougars rallied from a 30-8 deficit versus La Plata to win 31-30.