It began as the battle most believed it to be. However, as the clock ticked away, the Mustangs to the northwest snowballed under constant pressure.
No. 3 state-ranked North Shore lived up to its top area ranking, dispersing a wealth of defensive pressure to crush Westfield 35-3 in the most lopsided victory in the last five years on Thursday night at George Stadium.
Defensive linemen Tony Bradford, Darius Fitzpatrick, Jordan Revels, Jaden Rudolph, paired with linebackers Daymond Lewis, and Prince Monroe, were just five reasons that frustrated Westfield’s offense all evening. Whether a sack or a critical fourth-down stop, North Shore’s wrecking crew defense never yielded.
“I watched them in the first week against Kay, and they looked like a fourth-round playoff team.” “I knew we needed to improve on our mistakes before this game,” Westfield Coach Meekins said.
With a defense to be reckoned with, the class 6A Houston area top-ranked North Shore Mustangs (3-0) immediately served notice to Westfield (2-1) that the night would be an uphill battle.
It was the offense that ignited its defense when running back Zach Evans’ ripped off a 51-yard scoring run on the fourth play from scrimmage to give North Shore a 7-0 lead after the extra point kick and all the points it would need to bag its second victory and post the worst defeat of Westfield in last five years.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve only beat Westfield once,” said North Shore’s Coach Jon Kay.
With two of the top defenses offenses in the area, both were expected to make noise. But, the Mustangs shocked the home crowd by scoring 21 first-half points while holding Westfield to zero.
For the third consecutive week, North Shore has scored 35 or more points. The previous week watched the Mustangs blank Ridgepoint, 44-0.
Last week against Alief Taylor, starting quarterback Terrance Gipson an SMU recruit, went down with a knee injury. That may have a taken the luster out of Westfield’s offense.
After Rayshawn’s 11-yard run to begin the third quarter, Westfield punted three plays later. That put the ball back into Davis’ hands as he directed Mustangs 70 yards in 14-plays. Evans capped the possession with his second touchdown run of the night to help North Shore build a 28-0 lead.
Westfield started another drive at its 21 before going south once again. North Shore’s relentless pressure up front made it nearly impossible for the Mustangs offense to move the ball.
Davis added another touchdown pass to senior receiver Ajani Carter with 53 seconds left in the third quarter before reserves entered the game. The game was all but over as North Shore led 35-0.
After, it was all defense until Dematrius Davis threw a dart to sophomore receiver Charles King, who weaved to avoid a defender and raced 66 yards to the end zone to give North Shore what looked to be a comfortable 14-point lead.
Despite fumbling the ball six times in the first half, Westfield recovered them all as it avoided digging a deeper hole. But the self-inflicted mistakes proved costly. Mostly from yardage loss.
The last fumble before intermission served North Shore as a possession builder as fans watched Westfield face a third down and 25 from its 10-yard line with a 1:47 left. One play later, Washington picked up two yards before junior defensive limen Jaden Rudolph lower the boom at the 12. That forced Westfield to punt from its end zone with 1:37 left in the quarter and gave North Shore plenty of time to get on the board once again.
From the Westfield’s 47, North Shore used a trick play pass from Shadrach Banks, who went in motion from his receiver position toward the backfield as Davis pitched the ball to him. Banks then found Junior backup quarterback John Gentry sprinted downfield and tackled at the 28. A couple plays later, Davis finished the drive with a quarterback sneak up the middle. That increased North Shore’s lead 21-0 after John Villalobos’ extra point kick.
Abel Silva added a 35-yard field goal to help Westfield avoid a shutout.
