By Ron Hermann
Ft. Wayne — No. 1 Westfield 36, No. 4 Ft. Wayne Snider 7. Let me repeat that: No. 1 Westfield 36, No. 4 Ft. Wayne Snider 7. If you grew up around central Indiana and know your high school football but had been away for a while, that score just doesn’t make sense. In fact, it might look like a misprint. Westfield, No. 1 in the state? The Rocks crush traditional power Snider in Ft. Wayne? Westfield, one game away from a trip to Lucas Oil? Doesn’t make sense right? None of it would have made sense, that is, until this year.
The Rocks are for real and fans are happy to see it.
“They sure are carrying a lot of momentum. I haven’t heard of Westfield winning a whole lot of ball games until this year. Coach Gilbert is doing one heck of a job this year,” said Darrell Schiedel, a decades-long Rocks fan. “I think it’s spectacular! Very aggressive ball team. A whole new look. And they’re playing like a team. Just a real tight unit. I’m really proud of them!”
The realness continued Friday night despite some added apprehension going into the game. The Rocks were without two key senior defensive players due to injuries: DT Keyonte Crawford (concussion) and FS Luke Peters (hand). Each is expected back next week. And there’ll be a next week thanks in large part to an all-around team effort.
The Rocks defense was bolstered by the return of junior end Jacob Robinson. The reigning defensive MVP had missed the previous two games with a stress fracture. His return seemed to spark a spirited effort by the Rocks. Senior linebacker Mitch Turley gathered 13 tackles as Westfield limited the Panthers to just 191 yards of total offense.
On Special Teams, junior kicker Nick Dowd had four PAT’s and actually had a memory of a lifetime for a kicker. He scooped up an errant snap on a PAT attempt and completed a pass to senior Nick Krieg for the 2-pt conversion!
Hopefully, for the Rocks, more memories of a lifetime will be created on Nov. 22 as they play host to the No. 8 Concord Minutemen for the Semi-State title and a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium.