by Valley Forge started with the ball on their own 29-yardline. They started to establish their running game early on, with multiple runs from Lucas Schillinger that set the Patriots up in Westlake territory. After a costly facemask by the Demons, Valley Forge is right outside of the red zone. Schillinger continued to be helpful for the Patriots offense, converting an 18-yard run down to the one-yard line.
In a good position to score, Valley Forge set themselves back with an illegal participation penalty that put them on the 16-yardline. Immediately after this, Jacob Barnes made a big stop in the backfield forcing a longer 2nd down. This did not discourage quarterback Justin Purcel, who kept the ball and ran it up the middle for a 21-yard strike for the first score of the game. After the PAT was converted, Valley Forge led Westlake 7-0 with 5:18 left in the 1st quarter.
Valley Forge continued their rushing attack on the Demons, picking up a 1st down before the 1st quarter came to an end. An offensive holding brought the Patriots to a 3rd and long, which they could not convert, and led to a punt back to the Demons. Westlake, now in a position to lead the game, found themselves deep in Valley Forge’s territory. This is when good pressure from the Patriot defensive line forced a bad throw from Abdelhady, and the ball was intercepted in the endzone by Aiden Soto. Valley Forge did not last much longer with the ball, punting it back to Westlake after two sets of downs.
Westlake had their ball in their own territory and started to open up their passing game. Moe Abdelhady found Jacob Abdallah three times in a row for gains of over ten yards each time. This put the Demons in the red zone, where Hadi Mustafa took two handoffs to the right to punch in Westlake’s second touchdown of the night. After the extra point was converted Westlake led 14-7 with 2:31 left in the half.
Valley Forge was unable to get their offense moving on their next possession and they again punted. This led to a Westlake turnover, forced by a huge hit on the quarterback by Christian Cosgarea and recovered by linebacker Kaiden Hagel. The Patriots now started with the ball on Westlake’s half of the field and looked to score with a minute remaining in the half. Westlake held Valley Forge to a fourth and long, where Justin Purcel, following his backfield blockers, ripped off a huge run to put the Patriots in the red zone. Westlake’s defense made two great stops and provided enough pressure to the quarterback on the last play of the half to cause an incompletion and send the game into halftime. Westlake led the Patriots 14-7
Westlake started with the ball coming out of halftime, and they looked to extend their lead. The Patriots defense started to make nice stops behind the line with tackles from Mason Furukawa and Michal Fiszer. This gave Valley Forge the ball back on their own 11-yardline. The Patriots started to methodically move the ball down field, running the ball with Schillinger and Purcel. This rushing attack led to a 2nd down just inside the redzone, where Justin Purcel found Mason Furukawa who took it into the end zone, closing the lead down to just one point. A bad snap on the extra point kick turned into a very well converted fake field goal. Schillinger found Jadan Gill wide open in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion putting the Patriots up 15-14.
Valley Forge had a lot of momentum after this, forcing an instant three and out, and forcing a very bad punt from Westlake. A Patriot run led to the end of the 3rd quarter. On the first play of the 4th quarter, a completed pass on the sideline turned into a fumble that was recovered by Jacob Neff. Westlake was not having an easy time moving the ball but were able to make it down field with help from some Valley Forge penalties. Gavin McMillen and Hadi Mustafa helped get the Demons down to the one-yard line where Moe Abdelhady pushed through the line for a touchdown. The Demons did not convert on their two point try, which was stopped by Mason Furukawa, and now led the game 20-15 with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
With the game winding down, the Patriots need a touchdown. On the first set of downs on this drive, Valley Forge was looking at a 4th and short where Purcel found Dominic Marchese over the middle to move the chains. The Patriots fed Lucas Schillinger some more for two more big 1st downs, putting the ball right around the 50-yardline. A huge pass interference call after this play put Valley Forge inside the Demons’ red zone. This momentum was slowed though by three big stops by Westlake’s defensive line. On the second 4th down try of this drive, Schillinger found his way past the 1st down marker and inside Westlake’s 5-yardline. Schillinger scored on the next play putting Valley Forge back in control of the game. After a missed two-point conversion the Patriots led the game 21-20 with 1:12 left to go in the game.
Westlake gained the ball back at their own 30-yardline and needed just a field goal to take the lead. The Abdelhady and McMillen connection began to heat up with three completed passes in a row on the sideline to stop the clock. Westlake was in great position to score, and on a big third down, Abdelhady maneuvered his way out of the pocket and found Kareem Musleh across the middle to put the Demons well into Patriot territory. Westlake needed to advance the ball a few more yards to be comfortably in field goal range. With 30 seconds left in the game on Valley Forge’s 23-yardline, a false start penalty was called on Westlake, backing them up outside of field goal range. After two overthrown deep shots to the end zone, the Demons picked up a delay of game, putting them fully out of field goal range. Westlake took two more shots to the end zone and turned the ball over on downs with 10-seconds left in the game, sealing the win for Valley Forge.
The players of the game for Westlake were Hadi Mustafa, who scored one touchdown and helped keep the offense moving, and Gavin McMillen, who had a touchdown and helped Westlake nearly make a comeback.
The players of the game for Valley Forge were Justin Purcel, who had a rushing touchdown and led the Patriot offense to a win, and Mason Furukawa who had a touchdown and made many defensive stops slowing down Westlake’s offense.
Westlake heads to Rocky River next week looking to break this losing streak, and Valley Forge heads back home to host Bay Village, looking for their second win.
