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Westlake, Huntingtown meet for 3A South title
Friday, Nov. 20, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo File photo by EMILY BARNES
Westlake's Josh Alexander grabs Huntingtown quarterback Justin Bittner in the teams' first meeting on Sept. 25. They go at it again tonight at Huntingtown.
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The distractions and the paperwork and the rulings and the hearings seem to finally be over, which leaves just one more thing.
For Westlake and Huntingtown to play a football game that will decide who represents the 3A South region in the state semifinals.
The second-seeded Wolverines and top-seeded, and undefeated, Hurricanes will duke it out at 7 tonight for the chance to advance to 3A's final four. Westlake is the current 3A defending state champion after a 13-0 win over Wilde Lake last year.
"We are excited about the opportunity to play such a great team that is undefeated such as Huntingtown," Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli said. "We're excited. Those are maybe the best words we can say and I know Huntingtown is, too. They won their first playoff game and they're going after their first regional victory. I don't think it's any sweeter than that."
"Westlake's got a good program and they have [had one] for years," Huntingtown head coach Jerry Franks said. "We're just trying to close the gap, so to speak."
But preparing for their opponents proved much tougher after Westlake was charged with using an ineligible player.
Potomac, which lost to Westlake, 30-12, in a regional semifinal contest last Friday, was originally believed to win by default but it was determined late Monday that Westlake's record after forfeiting four games –– two of which were wins –– did not change the team's seeding, so the Wolverines were allowed to move on.
An appeal to get the two victories back was denied by a Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association appeals committee on Wednesday.
On the field, it sets up a showdown between arguably two of the best teams in the conference.
Zaccarelli said he wasn't much put out by the off-field distractions.
Franks, though, said he and his staff prepared for one opponent Saturday and had to game plan Sunday for another. Franks said he was prepared to face Westlake on Monday, but just before heading out to practice was informed that Potomac had been told to practice. Monday night he received word again that Westlake was in.
"It's been very difficult," he said. "It took a lot of time there that we normally would have liked to do some other things so that kind of slowed down the process a great deal. Yeah, it's been stressful. It's one of those things that I wish hadn't occurred. It certainly didn't give us any advantage. It put us at a disadvantage and we weren't even part of the problem."
Perfect ‘Canes
The Hurricanes (11-0) have been nothing short of perfect this season on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Huntingtown has scored 30 or more points in six games and reached the 40-point plateau twice.
The Hurricanes are led by senior running back Greg Goodwin, who has amassed 2,305 yards and 30 touchdowns this year.
"I think the first thing we need to do is focus on stopping the run," Zaccarelli said. "They are probably one of the best running teams I've seen in a long time. Their offensive line does a tremendous job of blocking and Goodwin is a formidable running back. We'll have our hands full there."
But Zaccarelli quickly added that the team's passing game, led in part by senior quarterback Justin Bittner, also needs constant attention.
"We want to try and keep the passing game in front of us and try to limit them as much as possible, but of course that creates a problem with such a strong running team," said Zaccarelli, who declared he would not install a spy on Goodwin. "They have other players who are good and who compliment Goodwin. [Chaz Hall] is a good receiver with good speed and a good punt returner and you've got No. 20 [Tyler Ricchiuto] and No. 80 [David Stanley] and [Conor] Stueckler who make receptions. And there's their quarterback who can put them in a situation where he can make big plays for them.
"We've got to be fundamentally sound, we've got to be great tacklers and we have to commit to stopping the running game, but we've got to be aware of their big passing plays."
When it has the ball, the Wolverines' offense is nothing to sneeze at either. Westlake (7-4) scored 40 or more points in six games this season, including a season-high 68 in defeating Parkside in Week 9.
"They're an exceptionally strong defensive team, but I don't slight the offense because with the running backs and quarterback they have, they have the capabilities to strike on any play," Zaccarelli said. Their big play capability is outstanding."
But neither are slouches on the defensive side either. Westlake blanked two opponents this season –– La Plata in Week 3 and Parkside –– and has allowed a stingy 7.9 points per game.
"Westlake is obviously a very strong team and defensively they're strong every year and this year they have an outstanding defense," Franks said. "They've got tremendous team speed and they can flat-out hit you and get to the ball quickly. There are times when teams don't improve throughout the year and there are times when teams do and Westlake has certainly done that."
Huntingtown has three perfect defensive games to its credit –– a 36-0 drubbing over the Warriors in Week 1, a 19-0 win over Lackey in the second-to-last game of the regular season and a 23-0 victory over the Chargers again last Saturday in the regional semifinal round.
Last time
While Huntingtown has manhandled the majority of its opponents this year, there was one team that played them close: Westlake.
The Hurricanes came from behind to defeat the host Wolverines 14-13 on Sept. 25, thanks to Goodwin's 21-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The game, which was the first of Westlake's four forfeits, was as close as the final score. The two teams had the same number of first downs (10), were within 12 yards of each other in total yards. Penalty yards were even within four yards of each other and each team even fumbled the ball twice.
"The thing is we're very fortunate that we have some savvy kids that know football and that know what it takes to win," Zaccarelli said. "They've been in this position before. It's going to come down to who executes best and who controls the line of scrimmage and who limits the amount of turnovers."
Westlake vs. Huntingtown
What: 3A South regional final
When: 7 p.m., tonight
Where: Huntingtown High School, 4125 Solomons Island Road, Huntingtown
