Westwood’s Nathan Beckman, center, runs the ball up the middle with teammate Ashton Bergman, right, setting the lead block against Negaunee on Friday night at the Patriots’ field. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

“We’re still young with juniors and sophomores, but it’s one of the better groups I’ve been around as a coach.” — Scott Syrjala, head coach, Westwood Patriots football

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ISHPEMING — The Westwood football team has pulled off one big accomplishment already this season, but the Patriots aren’t satisfied yet.

Westwood achieved the best record in school history after finishing the regular season at 8-1, an impressive turnaround from a two-win season the year before.

However, the Patriots have a higher goal on its agenda — a deep postseason run.

Westwood’s trek to a state championship actually begins on the road Saturday as it takes on Elk Rapids, located about 15 miles east of Traverse City in the Lower Peninsula.

There was a chance that the Patriots could’ve locked in a home game this weekend, but it didn’t work out that way. Still, Westwood head coach Scott Syrjala has liked what his team has accomplished heading into the playoffs.

“We knew that we were going to have a solid team with who we had coming back,” he said. “We knew we have great kids because we spent a lot of time with them in the offseason.

“They do a lot of volunteering and they do anything I ask of them. When you have that group of kids, good things are going to happen.

“Not everything went our way and we’ve had to face some adversity. We lost two of our offensive and defensive linemen early in the year, but the kids simply said next guy up.

“That’s been our attitude. We’re still young with juniors and sophomores, but it’s one of the better groups I’ve been around as a coach.”

The Patriots are talented in many areas, with an offense anchored by quarterback Nathan Beckman and running back Ashton Bergman. Both were unanimous Mid-Peninsula Conference First Team selections and can find holes their offensive line makes for them.

That isn’t too hard to do as the Patriots have one of the best lines in the area, led by guard Sam Gilles and tackle Blake Hewitt, both unanimous selections to the M-PC First Team.

Defensively, Westwood is also in great shape with Gilles and Hewitt on the line along with two more unanimous M-PC selections in linebacker Ethan Homola and defensive back Ethan Burke.

The Pats will need all those guys to contribute if they want to get past Elk Rapids, which had a strong season at 7-2. The Elks’ two losses were to perennial powerhouse Traverse City St. Francis and undefeated Boyne City. ER is known for being solid on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve seen film on them and they’re doing some good things defensively,” Syrjala said. “They get after the ball and offensively, they are four or five wide (with receivers) every play and once in awhile, they’ll go in the shotgun with two running backs.

“They have a good quarterback and they’re pretty good up front too. They’ve got good wide receivers and they have a horse of a tailback who is really fast.

“We’ve watched film on them and we’re going to have our hands full. It’s going to be a tough game. They’re playing really good football and they spread the field well.”

To get to the second round, Syrjala said that it’s going to come down to two big things. If the Patriots do both, they should be successful against the Elks.

“Offensively, we have to control the line of scrimmage and we also have to try to limit the big play,” he said. “That was our game plan against Gladstone and for the most part, we did it. We gave up two big plays and made too many mistakes.

“People talk about us fumbling a lot, but as much as we run the ball, we’ve never fumbled once running it with it in our hands. It’s all been on shotgun snaps.

“We’ve been working on that a lot and we corrected that against Negaunee and we were fine. If we control the line of scrimmage and don’t give up the big play, we’ll be fine and we can stay with them.”

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