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Backs against the wall

Westwood ‘D’ stiffens at goal line to get 22-6 opening win over Munising

Munising’s Anthony Matson, front, is tackled by Westwood’s Ethan Burke after recieiving a pass Friday night. Aug. 25, 2017, at Westwood. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

ISHPEMING — Football is won in the trenches more often than not and that’s how Westwood got the job done Friday night in its season opener.

The Patriots made two fourth-down goal line stands and the offensive line made some huge holes for their runners to defeat Munising 22-6.

Ashton Bergman led Westwood with 124 yards on the ground in 27 carries, while quarterback Nathan Beckman was 6 of 11 for 69 yards passing.

The Patriots may have gotten the win, but head coach Scott Syrjala had mixed feelings after the game.

“Our defense made some big plays for us,” he said. “However, our backs put a lot of pressure on them by missing holes and making the wrong cuts.

“Our line did a great job making holes on the inside and our backs would go outside toward the defense. If the holes were outside, they’d go inside.

“I’m happy that we won, but to make those types of mistakes, we’re so much better than that. We’re just going to correct it and get better.”

For Munising, those missed opportunities hurt badly. The Mustangs drove to the Westwood 1-yard line right before the half, but quarterback Alec Blank was stuffed short as the horn sounded.

In the third quarter, Munising recovered a fumble and returned it all the way to the Patriots 3, but again was stopped on fourth down as Blank’s pass fell incomplete.

“Westwood just did a good job stopping us,” Mustangs head coach Jeff Seaberg said. “We didn’t get much of a push either time and that’s the thing. You have to show some guts and with our plays inside the 5, you certainly hope you come away with points. If we get those two scores, we’re back in the ball game.

“We’re young and you could see it during the game. We didn’t give up a lot of big plays so there’s some good things to take from this. It’s frustrating because you look at the scoreboard and you stall twice inside the 5, there’s two missed opportunities. We’ll learn from that, though, and we’ll get better.”

After failing to convert on fourth down late in the first quarter, Westwood got on the scoreboard on its first drive of the second. A nice 21-yard pass from Beckman to Ethan Burke brought the ball deep into Munising territory and one play later, Bergman plunged into the end zone for a 6-yard TD. Bergman then found Blake Hewitt for the 2-point conversion and the Patriots led 8-0.

On its next drive, Westwood used its running game to march down the field and the drive culminated in another Bergman TD for a 14-0 advantage.

The Mustangs got something going offensively late in the quarter and with the help of two pass interference calls, along with a long pass from Blank to Anthony Mattson, they had a chance to score. However, Westwood made its first big stop and the Mustangs went into the locker room down two scores.

After a scoreless third, Westwood added points again midway through the fourth. After a costly facemask penalty brought the ball into Mustang territory, Beckman trotted untouched into the end zone for a 9-yard score with 5:33 left. He also picked up the 2-point PAT and the Patriots led 22-0.

The Mustangs finally got on the board thanks to some nice passing from Blank. He found Mattson on fourth down to keep the drive going and connected with Jessie Matson along the far sideline for a 27-yard first down. Two plays later, Blank hit Anthony Mattson near the far pylon for a 15-yard TD, but it was too little and too late.

“Alec got better as the game went on,” Seaberg said. “We didn’t give him a ton of time and he started to get happy feet trying to roll out of the pocket.

“He did a decent job though. He hit some open guys and the guys who weren’t open made some nice catches.

“We’re young and you could see it during the game. We didn’t give up a lot of big plays and that’s a good thing for us. There’s some good things to take from this. It’s frustrating because you look at the scoreboard and you stall twice inside the 5, it was a missed opportunity. Now we just need to make sure we get the job done next time.”

Westwood travels to Houghton Thursday, while Munising heads to St. Ignace Saturday.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

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