Westwood gets by Glen Rock with big defensive effort by Darren Cooper of The Record
TWP. OF WASHINGTON – Good thing the turnover chain wasn’t that heavy.
Westwood senior quarterback/defensive back Anthony Corrubia had three of Westwood’s six interceptions Friday night as the Cardinals held off Glen Rock, 23-13, in the North 1, Group 2 first round. He held a thick gold chain around his neck post-game.
After making an interception on the second play of the game for Glen Rock, a Westwood coach shouted to Corrubia ‘that’s one,’ but Corrubia never expected to see so many balls come his way.
“Before the game, they told us we should be making picks all day,” Corrubia said. “I never had three before. It feels pretty good.”
Despite a 6-0 edge on turnovers, the Cardinals didn’t put the game away until a 30-yard field goal by TJ Constantine with 1:07 left and Westwood coach Dennis Hard wasn’t too pleased with the mistakes.
“The last couple of weeks we have been running the ball real well, give them credit, they were physical inside and we couldn’t run the ball,” said Hard.
What it means
The Cardinals advance to the sectional semifinals where it will face the winner of Saturday’s Kittatinny/Mahwah game. Westwood defeated Mahwah 20-6 in the regular season. Westwood is now 7-2.
Glen Rock finishes 5-4 and clearly missed Seve Bilbao, who did not play because of an injury.
Key play
The outcome was still in doubt with Westwood holding on to a 20-13 lead with less than three minutes to play and the Cardinals facing third and 10 at their own 32. Westwood running back Tyler Giordano motioned out of the backfield in the flat, Corrubia faked to him, then found Christian Maiz downfield for a 30 yard gain. Four plays later, Constantine kicked the field goal to seal it.
“They were jumping on the play and we were like, let’s go for it,” Corrubia said. “It was a great call by our coach and it was executed great.”
By the numbers
3: Constantine was hurt earlier in the season and returned before the Mahwah game. He made three field goals for the Cardinals, a 27-yarder, a 29-yarder and a 30-yarder. He missed one from 25.
70: Christian Maiz had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter to put Westwood ahead 20-0.
58: Glen Rock punter Justin Douenias had a booming kick and roll punt of 58 yards, and also pinned Westwood inside it’s own 10 twice. “Their punter killed us all night,” Hard said.
Game balls
Corrubia gets the easy nod with his three interceptions and he also threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Maiz in the first quarter. Credit also must be given to Glen Rock quarterback Greg Schlett who kept the Panthers in the game with his running and toughness.
They said it
“We really made too many mistakes, too many penalties, we should have blown them out, we left too many points on the board,” Corrubia said.