Westburg Seals the Deal in Overtime, Jags’ win 30 to 27

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

James Middleton | November 11, 2022

Credit: @trsmith296

Concord, PA: Out in Garnet Valley tonight, it seemed like a game of tug-o-war, and whoever got the ball last would walk away with the victory. With a late fourth-quarter score by Spring-Ford running back Will Fish and a missed field goal by Garnet Valley, the game found itself in a deadlock at 24 to 24. In overtime, the Jaguar defense had the chance to stop Spring-Ford in their first possession, and the defense stopped them on third and goal, forcing a field goal. All Garnet Valley had to do now was find the endzone, and on the first play, Jack Westburg ran it in untouched for the score and the win. “Honestly, I think that is the highlight of my life. Going into the endzone seeing 94 guys coming in and cheering for you, I literally was crying because I was just so happy to see everybody surround me” Westburg said on his game-winning score. The touchdown gave the Jags the win over Spring-Ford by a score of 30 to 27.

The Garnet Valley offense had the chance to strike first, and that they did with a three-yard touchdown run by Jason “The Bus” Bernard. However, it was a relatively low-scoring first half for the Jags, with senior kicker Timothy Comers putting up the final three points by way of a field goal and leaving the score at 10 to 7 going into halftime. During halftime, the message for Head Coach Eric VanWyk was about physicality. “They punched us in the mouth at the end of the second quarter, and we needed to respond to it. I thought we did that defensively, and our offense took over in that third quarter,” VanWyk on how the Jags responded. 

It would not be low-scoring for that much longer as it was a tale of two halves for both teams. Coming out of halftime, Spring-Ford started with the ball, and the Jaguar defense forced a field goal, making the score 10 to 10. Garnet Valley’s first possession of the second half is what the Jaguar faithful are accustomed to, ground and pound football. On a drive that didn’t feature a pass, the offense was able to get the ball down to the Spring-Ford seven-yard line. From there, it was “The Bus” notching his second touchdown of the night, bringing the game to a score of 17 to 10 in favor of the Jags. Spring-Ford didn’t wait long to strike back; on the kickoff, Gage Swanger took the kick back ninety-seven yards to even up the score. 

Garnet Valley once again needed to come up with a response. Luke Mingioni returned the kick to the forty-two-yard line, and then it was quarterback Matt Mesaros putting together two big runs to put the Jags in Spring-Ford territory. On third and three from the twenty-two, Mingioni finished off the drive he started by running one in for a twenty-two-yard score. “We take pride in running the ball hard, and I think we did that. More importantly, it was the offensive line, and they really paved the way tonight,” VanWyk on Garnet Valley’s run game. 

It’s been a long time since the Jags’ have had a close game. Before tonight, their closest contest was in the first game of the season, where they won by a margin of 14 to 7 over CB West. However, that doesn’t matter, as the Jags’ will win in whatever fashion they need as long as they keep dancing. Next week, the Jaguars will face twelfth-seeded Downingtown East as they won by a score of 34 to 9 over Downingtown West. Since Garnet Valley is the one seed, Downingtown will have to travel to “The Moe” in next week’s district one semi-final. 

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