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WESTLAKE, OH – It was all River tonight as the Pirates traveled to Westlake to capture the Westwood Cup with a 43-13 victory. This was the 7th annual Westwood Cup game in a tradition that began back in 2019. In fact for you trivia buffs, the 2019 inaugural edition was the first ever football game broadcasted by Kee On Sports. Much like that night, tonight, the Pirates dominated from start to finish in the win.
The Pirates opened the game by taking their first drive down the field to score with ease. The scoring drive was highlighted by 3 catches from Tristin Hughes, the last of which being a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Taylor as River was just beginning to cook.
The next Pirate score came on the ground as quarterback Taylor scrambled out of the pocket and ran to his right, scoring from about 6 yards out as he escaped an arm tackle at the goal line. Just like that, the Demons trailed 14-0 in the first as the Pirates started the game firing on all cylinders.
The second quarter began with more of the same from the River Pirates as they just kept attacking the sky. This time, the score coming on a 22-yard pitch and catch to Daniel Berg which opened up the lead to 21-0. Despite their being a ton of time remaining in the second quarter and game, this one was pretty over right there.
It wasn’t much longer after that when Berg caught another touchdown pass from Taylor and extended the lead to 28-0. To the Demons credit, they refused to go away quietly and scored one of their own on a 8 yard touchdown pass from Moe Abdelhady to Will Bierfeldt to cut it to 28-6 at the halftime break.
After a hard hitting third quarter filled with brutal collisions, the River Pirates found the endzone again. Once more it was Hughes, however, this time, he did it with his legs to increase the Pirate lead to 36-6 as we headed towards the final frame of the night.
It was then, to start the fourth, that the Demon combination of Moe Abdelhady to Will Bierfeldt hooked up again to stop the running clock at 36-13. The Pirates cruised to the 43-13 victory from there.
The Pirates will look to stay hot next week as they host CWC Powerhouse, the Buckeye Bucks in a game that will decide the conference championship, more then likely at least. The Pirates will then close the season on the road, week 10, at Bay.
