Westlake Beats Elyria Catholic 27-7 On A Rainy Senior Night

On a rainy senior night, Westlake was able to defeat Elyria Catholic by a score of 27-7. Despite the tough conditions, the Demons claimed victory on the backs of Matthew Porcelli, the offensive line, and the defense.

Both teams exchanged possessions to start the game. Westlake grabbed some early momentum thanks to a fumble recovery. Senior Malik Musleh blew up a speed option and recovered the ball, setting the Demons up with advantageous field position. Westlake was able to gain some yardage thanks to some solid running by Matthew Porcelli. The Demons were able to set themselves up in field goal range, and Sean Evilsizer knocked in a 32 yarder. This made the score 3-0 with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter.

A few minutes later, Westlake kept the momentum going courtesy of another fumble recovery, this time on a strip sack. Senior Gianni Wright came off the edge and got the strip sack, and the ball was then recovered by Andrew Palka. This gave the Demons the ball at the Panthers’ 8-yard line. On the very next play, Porcelli ran untouched up the middle to increase the Demons’ lead. They now led 10-0 with 2:10 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Elyria Catholic was able to drive down to the redzone thanks to a big passing play. Quarterback Brady Engle found Anthony DeMartinis up the seem for 42 yards. However, the drive was stopped when Westlake recovered yet another fumble. Porcelli laid a nice hit, and Palka came up with the ball again.

The Panthers eventually got the ball back and were able to drive down again. A huge play on the drive was when Engle found Teddy Budinger for 47 yards to convert a lengthy third down. Budinger made a nice grab on a 50-50 ball and then proceeded to pick up more yards after the catch. The Panthers were able to capitalize a few minutes later. DeMartinis took the handoff, bounced it outside, and scored from 2 yards out. This made the score 10-7 with 5:46 remaining the half.

Westlake was able to piece together a nice drive to finish off the second half. The drive was capped off by Evilsizer who knocked in a 22-yard field goal. Heading into the break, the Demons held a 13-7 lead.

Both offenses started the second half slow, as the conditions continued to get worse. It was clear the ground game would be critical for both sides. Knowing this, Westlake kept feeding Porcelli and letting the offensive line go to work. Then, with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter, Westlake’s gameplan had paid off. From the Panthers’ 34-yard line, Porcelli was able to escape a few tacklers, break free, and tiptoe down the sideline for his second touchdown of the night. Westlake now held a 20-7 lead heading into the final stretch.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Westlake’s defense continued to hold up time and time again. In the meantime, the offense kept the ground game going. With 5:38 left in the game, facing a fourth down from the Panthers’ 13-yard line, quarterback Sam Brucchieri scrambled in for a touchdown. This capped the scoring, as Westlake led 27-7. Westlake’s defense got three turnovers to finish off the game. Cooper Rummel snagged an interception, and they were also able to recover fumbles on a kickoff and Elyria Catholic’s final possession.

Before naming tonight’s player of the game, the Westlake ground game deserves some credit for this win. Senior running back Matthew Porcelli ran the ball 33 times for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns. With his big night, he also was able to eclipse 1,000 yards on the season. None of this would’ve been possible without the Demons’ O-line. The big men were creating nice holes all day long and paved the way for Porcelli all night.

Tonight’s player of the game is the Westlake defense. The defense came up with 6 total turnovers. 5 fumble recoveries and an interception. The defense also had multiple sacks and a handful of tackles for loss. They held Elyria Catholic to 160 yards of total offense and just one touchdown.

With the win, Westlake finished the regular season 7-3, and will a host a playoff game next week. The opponent is TBD. Elyria Catholic finishes 3-7 and will await other scores to determine if they’ve made the playoffs.