Football: Westlake 24, Seneca Valley 21 (OT)

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By Andy States
Content Manager, DigitalSports.com

As the kicker on a team that features the likes of the explosive Devon Smith, among others, Nick Koster generally wouldn't be the first person expected to be the hero in any Westlake Wolverines' wins.

But after the Wolverines were able to hold the Seneca Valley Screaming Eagles in overtime, Westlake coach Dominic Zaccarelli opted to put his team's chances on Koster's foot rather than in Smith's hands.

On first down of Westlake's overtime possession, the senior kicker booted a 27-yard field goal into the wind and through the uprights to lift the visiting Wolverines to a 24-21 win over the Screaming Eagles on Friday night's 3A semifinal. Westlake advances to play in its first state-championship game since 1996, and will line up against Wilde Lake at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for Thursday night's 3A championship game.

"I was thinking, 'I have to make this field goal. If I don't make it the finger's pointed at me," Koster said of his game-winner, which came after a high snap nearly prevented the attempt from even being made. "But it's exciting and at the same time it's a great feeling to win."

Prior to the overtime session, it was Smith leading the Westlake offense to the tune of 168 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Smith scored on runs of 17, 5 and 53 yards, and also hauled in three passes from sophomore quarterback Chris Istvan for 26 yards. Istvan completed 7 of 13 passes for 82 yards and no interceptions.

"We earned our pride and our respect," Smith said. "That's all this game was for, and we did it for Coach Zac, like I always say."

Seneca Valley (12-1) opened the scoring on Joe Rankin's 98-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff. But Westlake (11-2), which has benefited from strong defensive showings throughout the postseason, clamped down on the Screaming Eagles throughout the rest of the first half. The hosts longest first-half drive, which saw them march from their own 28-yard line to the Westlake 30, ended on a lost fumble.

Westlake, meantime, drove into Seneca Valley territory twice in the first half only to turn the ball over on downs. But Smith got the Wolverines on the board with a 17-yard touchdown sprint with just 27 seconds remaining in the first half.

"I knew if I could score my team was going to get up," Smith said. "That's all I was thinking about. I got to score for my team."

"Huge," Zaccarelli said of that touchdown's significance. "You know, you get in situations and we're going to give him the ball. You have to prove to us that you can stop him. And the other guys do a good job of complementing it."

Smith scored on a five-yard jaunt late in the third quarter to increase Westlake's edge to 14-6, but Seneca Valley came right back to answer with C.J. Jones' 37-yard touchdown run with seconds left in the quarter. George Lerch then connected with Dimitri Parker for the two-point conversion to tie the score.

Smith struck again early in the fourth, showing his speed with a 53-yard sprint to pay dirt with 9:41 to play. But again, the Screaming Eagles fought back and tied the score after Mark Henderson's 15-yard touchdown reception with 4:33 remaining.

Starting on offense in overtime, Seneca Valley faced a fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line. Rather than attempt the go-ahead field goal, the hosts -- which had missed an extra point earlier in the game -- opted to go for the touchdown. The snap was fumbled and recovered by Westlake's Sean Garland.

"Do we want to put the game in a first-year player's hands, our kicker, or do we want to go with our veterans?" Seneca Valley coach Fred Kim said of the decision. "We decided to go with our veterans. Three yards, we can punch that in. Unfortunately we did not get in."

And Westlake never even attempted to punch it in. With Smith - as well as runners like Antoine Reese, who scored Westlake's winning touchdown against Lackey a week ago -- ready to go, the Wolverines instead opted to send Koster out to attempt the game-winning field goal on first down. The snap was high and the kick was low, but it went through the uprights to end the game and send Westlake to the 3A final.

"I just felt like we had the No. 4 team in the area on the ropes," Zaccarelli said. "I know my kicker can make it. He's kicking the ball good on extra points. He boomed a ball on the punt. Now, I didn't draw up the high snap, all that stuff.

"Maybe the winds of luck were just with us tonight."

Jones led Seneca Valley with 42 yards rushing, while Lerch completed 8 of 18 passes for 91 yards. In all, the Screaming Eagles were limited to just 87 yards on the ground and 178 total for the game.

"Our defense has been the strongest part of our team all year long," Zaccarelli said. "We've played some teams with some pretty good talent, so they've given up some points, but it's always been big plays. We usually play pretty tough and every now and then there's a breakdown."

"Westlake played a great game," Kim said. "They were well-prepared. They were tough defensively.

"We knew that Smith would make some plays and we felt like we had to make more plays than Smith."

Coming off consecutive four-turnover performances against Damascus and Urbana the previous two rounds, Seneca Valley was again struck by the turnover bug, including the critical fumbles in overtime and inside the Westlake 30 in the first half.

"The turnovers killed us," Kim said. "We turned the ball over an lost field position. We put ourselves in a really bad spot. It just seemed the cards were not in our favor. We didn't have a good hand tonight."

"We heard they were underestimating us all week," said Westlake linebacker and defensive leader Evan Harris, "so we were coming out to let them know that we're for real and Westlake is a team built together as a family."

That family aspect has likely been the key to a season littered with adversity. Several deaths to family members have marred Westlake's season, seemingly making funerals as common as games this season. But through it all, the team has found a way to stick together and keep on winning.

"I'm just so excited for the kids and excited for the coaching staff," Zaccarelli said. "Our kids, everyone's gone through a lot.

"With all that type of emotion and things like that our kids are really, what can you say? I keep saying resilient, it's way beyond that. And they have a will that they don't want to lose. They don't want to go home and that's something that's really special."

astates@digitalsports.com

Westlake 24, Seneca Valley 21
W    0    7    7    7    3
S     6    0    8    7    0
First quarter
S    -    Rankin 98 kick return (kick failed), 11:43
Second quarter
W    -    Smith 17 run (Koster kick), :27
Third quarter
W    -    Smith 5 run (Koster kick), 2:13
S    -    Jones 37 run (Parker pass from Lerch), :15
Fourth quarter
W    -    Smith 53 run (Koster kick), 9:41
S    -    Henderson 15 pass from Lerch (Black kick), 4:33
Overtime
W    -    FG Koster 27

Top individual performers
Rushing
Westlake: Smith 26-168, Reese 14-31
Seneca Valley: Jones 6-42, Rankin 14-21, Moore 4-13, Lerch 6-11
Passing
Westlake: Istvan 7-13-0 82
Seneca Valley: Lerch 8-18-1 91
Receiving
Westlake: Smith 3-26, Reese 2-26, Jarvis 1-25, Richards 1-5
Seneca Valley: Henderson 4-62, Yassara 1-13, Jones 1-7, Hughes 1-7, Rankin 1-2