Football: Westlake 16, Lackey 14

**Click HERE for videos from the game -- second half added**

By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC

As time dwindled on the clock in Friday night's 3A South championship game, all signs pointed towards the script playing out as usual.

Westlake, year-in and year-out one of the top teams in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference, was about to come up just short again, as Lackey senior Gary Fortune ran back and interception 69 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 8 minutes 15 seconds remaining.

The score looked to be the play that gave Lackey its fourth straight regional-final win over Westlake, dating back to 2003.

But, led by players not quite so familiar with the standard story, the Wolverines wrote a new ending.

Taking over on their own 37 with 3:40 to play, the Wolverines marched downfield on 10 plays and, after being repelled on three straight downs inside the Lackey 5-yard line, scored the game-winning touchdown on Antoine Reese's one-yard touchdown run.

Westlake's 16-14 win over the visiting Chargers earned Westlake its first trip to the state semifinals since 1996. The Wolverines will travel to Seneca Valley next week.

"We all stuck together as a team," Reese said. "It looked like we were down, but we all stuck together as a team and kept our heads up. We all pushed each other. We've been pushing each other since Day 1. We just want it all for [Westlake coach Dominic Zaccarelli]."

On the decisive drive, Westlake (10-2) trusted the talents of players that had not seen a ton of action in previous encounters with Lackey (8-4). Reese, a junior, carried three times including the touchdown. Junior Kendall Jefferson carried twice, including a 24-yard run that moved the Wolverines into Lackey territory. And Devon Smith, playing his first football season with the Wolverines, rushed three times on the drive including a 19-yard run to move the Wolverines inside the 10.

Smith, though prevented from maintaining his 13-yard per carry average, rushed for a game-high 107 yards on 25 carries to lead the Westlake attack. Reese rushed for 57 yards, while Jefferson added another 56.

"We're always talking about putting our heads down when we know it's done," Smith said. "We kept playing, kept playing with our heart and our soul and we played as a team. We drove all the way downfield and we got a touchdown and won the game."

Smith got things started barely three minutes into the game, when the Chargers surprisingly punted to Smith and the Penn State commit, one of the most explosive players in the state, made them pay with an 87-yard touchdown return.

"I was surprised because usually nobody kicks to me," Smith said. "I just knew that if they kick it to me one time I'm going to house it."

Nick Koster kicked a 29-yard field goal to close the first half, but Lackey pulled back into the game on Amir Smith's 49-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Smith with 3:59 left in the third quarter. Then, facing a third-and-10 from the Lackey 33, Westlake's past shortcomings came back to light when Fortune picked off a Chris Istvan pass and wove his way through a slew of would-be tacklers on his way to a 69-yard touchdown return.

"I thought, really, I threw the game away right there," Zaccarelli said.

But this year's Wolverines were different than the groups of years past. While perhaps not as talented on paper from top to bottom as Westlake teams of years past, this year's edition fought through the adversity.

"Our kids showed a lot of heart and resiliency," Zaccarelli said. "With the way these kids have gone through so much this year -- deaths of family members and different funerals we've been at all year -- they've been resilient all year. We've bounced back when we've had those tough situations as a team."

On the field, perhaps none were tougher than what the Wolverines faced in the game's final minute. Through three downs Westlake was unable to finsh the final drive -- the primary culprit behind all of the past Westlake shortcomings. But, with three straight regional-final losses to Lackey and 12 years of falling short of the state semifinals to weigh them down, the Wolverines put all of the negative feelings to rest when Reese hammered his way across the goal line.

"We said before the game that if we didn't have the heart and desire to do it for ourselves we were going to do it for Coach Zack," Reese said. "Either way, we were going to play hard. Everything we did tonight was for Coach Zack. Everything."

"It affected me a lot, just knowing that Coach Zack went through this last four years," said Smith of the program's postseason struggles. "Our whole team all this week talked about, 'We're going to do it for Coach Zack,' and we did it. We won the regional championship and did what we're supposed to do."

A week after shutting out Friendly, Westlake's defense came up big again. The team's much-maligned secondary limited Smith to 6 of 27 passing, and surrendered just 31 total rushing yards.
"Overall, I thought the secondary tackled very well in the open field," Zaccarelli said. "I thought they covered very well. Lackey did have some dropped passes, so that helped, but on the other side of that, how much of that was us creating pressure?"

Westlake returns to the state semifinals for the first time since 1996, when the Wolverines made their only state championiship game appearance. The Wolverines are the fourth seed amongst the four 3A semfinalists and thus, will be traveling to top-seeded Seneca Valley.

"It's a goal every season," Zaccarelli said of reaching the state semifinals. "Our program, we've won the conference championship, we've won a lot of games -- this is what you strive for.

"I'm very appreciative of my kids' effort. I've said many times, you just can't measure the success of a program by the wins and losses, in the playoffs or anytime. It's really the players that you've touched."

astates@digitalsports.com

Westlake 16, Lackey 14
L    0    0    7    7
W    7    3    0    6
First quarter
W    -    Smith 87 punt return (Koster kick), 8:48
Second quarter
W    -    FG Koster 29, 0:00
Third quarter
L    -    An. Smith 49 pass from Am. Smith (Bowman kick), 3:59
Fourth quarter
L    -    Fortune 69 interception return (Bowman kick), 8:15
W    -    Reese 1 run (kick failed), :24.2

Top individual performers
Rushing
Lackey: Osuchukwu 6-42, Willis 1-7
Westlake: Smith 25-107, Reese 20-57, Jefferson 6-56
Passing
Lackey: Smith 6-27-0 137
Westlake: Istvan 0-6-1 0
Receiving
Lackey: Fortune 3-53, Jordan 2-35, An. Smith 1-49