D-II football: Chaparral blanks Westwood with balanced attack
November 7, 2014 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Chaparral isn't used to playing a road game in the first round of the state football playoffs. If it's ever happened it may have been in 1995. But the No. 10 Firebirds are used to winning postseason games and took the occasion Friday night to rebound from a regular-season-ending loss to Paradise Valley to blank upstart and No. 7 Westwood, 30-0, in a Division II playoff game at Brimhall Field.
Chaparral (7-3) was thrilled with the outcome of their game and ecstatic when they found out as the left the field that No. 15 Sunnyside had upset No. 2 Ironwood Ridge, 35-14. That means Chaparral gets a home game next Friday (Nov. 14) against Sunnyside. Westwood closed its most successful season in terms of wins in a decade with a 9-2 mark and Spencer Stowers troops were applauded in a genuine moment by their fans and parents moment after the loss. in front of the Westwood-side bleachers.
Chaparral managed to move the ball on the ground and threw the air pretty much at will as the Firebirds rolled up a 24-0 lead by halftime, scoring 17 of those points in the second quarter. Chaparral outgained Westwood 318 to 115 in the first half and used two Westwood turnovers to tally 10 of those points.
“It’s nice to get balanced,” Chaparral coach Conrad Hamilton said. “Last week we had managable downs, but no deception.”
Chaparral used senior Riley Kirke at quarterback last week filling in for the injured Sean Paul Brophy and backup Grayson Barry, who had used up his playing allotment for the regular season shifting back and forth from the JV to varsity
Barry got back in Friday and helped the offense get the diversity Hamilton craved. Chaparral passed for 169 yards in the first half and rushed for 149. Barry opened the scoring flipping a 6-yard touchdown pass to his favorite target of the evening – Christian Skeptaris. That came with 2:06 left in the first period.
Chaparral then recovered a fumble late in the quarter at its own 42. Nine plays later --and early in the second period -- it was 14-0 as Barry tallied on a quarterback sneak from one yard out with 9:53 to the half. Barry figured in the scoring again a few minutes later hooking up on a 49-yard TD toss to wide out Ryan Bright – a nice catch and throw that made it 21-0.
Chaparral tacked on a field goal with 18 seconds left in the half after recovering a second Westwood fumble at the Warriors 43. Kicker Chris Sanchez drilled a 42-yarder to complete the first-half scoring.
Chaparral used three running backs primarily in totaling 289 yards on the ground for the night. Senior Gabe Lutz, junior Spencer Greenberg and sophomore Ian Nadel took turns churning out medium to big gains. Nadel finished the scoring on a 1-yard run with four minutes left in the final period.
Barry didn’t throw as much in the second half with the game in hand and finished 18-of-28 for 198 yards and two TDs. Barry completed passes to seven different receivers.
Chaparral’s defense wasn’t shabby either. The Firebirds forced four turnovers and limited Westwood’s ground game to 38 yards in the first half and 73 for the game. Westwood's leading rusher Ethan Johnson carried 16 times for 43 yards. Johnson entered the game with just less than 1,900 yards rushing and 25 TDs.
“We’ve been pretty opportunistic all year on defense,” Hamilton said. “Our goal is to stop the run and get after the quarterback. I think we have 50 some sacks this season. We were able to stop the run tonight, adn then got after the quarterback.”
