Westfield rolls past Concord, advances to 5A final
By RYAN NAYLOR
ISL Correspondent
WESTFIELD, Ind. — Westfield dominated Concord from the opening snap in route to a 35-3 victory on Friday night and a berth in the Class 5A state finals next Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The top-ranked Shamrocks picked off Concord’s Trevor Wilmore on the very first pass from scrimmage, leading to a 4-yard touchdown run by Elvin Caldwell that gave Westfield an early 7-0 lead.
Concord answered with a quick drive, culminated by a 30-yard field goal. The visiting Minutemen wouldn’t make another trip to the red zone until late in the second half.
Westfield seemingly lived in the red zone. Nick Ferrer was spectacular, completing all seven of his passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in the first half and running for another score. Caldwell rushed for 95 first half yards on 12 carries before the break as Westfield led 28-3.
The Shamrocks’ defense was equally impressive, sacking Wilmore six times and limiting the senior to 12 of 27 passing for 98 yards on the night. The Shamrocks spent a large portion of the second half running out the clock and giving starters the opportunity to rest and prepare for their first trip to the state finals.
Ferrer completed 13 of 16 passes overall for 193 yards and a touchdown and Caldwell finished with 145 yards on 19 carries.
Jackson Marlow led Concord with 77 yards on 12 carries.
Next week’s state finals game against Cathedral is new territory for the Shamrocks and third-year coach Jake Gilbert. Westfield has only had two winning seasons since 1999. While the Rocks have benefited from a number of local schools moving up to the new class 6A, they still have notched a number of impressive wins in the 2013 campaign. Westfield’s only loss was in overtime to Fishers.
