The Battle of the 56, an intense, annual rivalry game between Westview and Mt. Carmel Sundevils football took place on Friday the 6th. The game hosted at Mt. Carmel was the third game of the season for the Wolverines, who entered with a 1-1 record. In anticipation of the game, the players said that they expected the scores to be close, similar to the 27-20 loss suffered to the Mount Sundevils last season, but were hoping for a win this year.
Wide receiver and defensive back Kyler Brown (11) expected the team to bounce back from the previous week’s loss against Mission Hills.
“We were feeling confident and expected to have a good game,” Brown said.
The game started off very slow for the Wolverines due to an early 15-0 hole in the first half. Westview had difficulty keeping the ball out of the hands of Mt. Carmel’s offense and the time of possession of their drives was significantly lower than those of Mt. Carmel for most of the first half. The Wolverines continued to struggle, as Mt. Carmel scored another touchdown, bringing the score to 21-0.
However, after a bad snap on the PAT, the Wolverines gained momentum, marching down the field from the 25 yard line all the way down the field, taking eight out of the last nine minutes of the half. They scored on a QB sneak from the two yard line by Mason Walsh (12), cutting the lead down to 21-7.
The late second-quarter score was a sign that the Wolverine players still felt confident in the team and knew they could make the game close.
“We felt good and believed we could play better.” Brown said
After halftime, the Wolverines punted following a quick first drive. When the Westview defense got on the field, they put pressure on Mt. Carmel’s quarterback on third down and forced a fumble that was recovered by Patrick Piec (12) with about six minutes left in the third quarter. This led to great field position inside the 30 yard line, and a long passing touchdown, which was caught by Evan Levine (11), making the score 21-14.
“Going down early, it definitely has an impact on how we all feel going into the next play,” Levine said. “I feel that the whole team handled it well. We persevered and continued to fight the rest of the game.”
After kicking off back to the Sundevils, the Wolverines’ defense held the Sundevils to a field goal with two minutes left in the quarter.
When the Wolverines got the ball, they were taking time off the clock into the fourth quarter and ended up in a fourth-and-6 after a false start with about eight minutes left. In a must-have first down, Walsh, under pressure, threw a pass off his back foot 14 yards to Levine, who jumped up and caught the ball with one hand to advance play.
This put the team into scoring position after a few more plays. However, they ended up on fourth-and-3 in the red zone with just under eight minutes to go. Instead of giving the ball to four-star kicker Troy McMurrey (12) to make it a one score game, the decision was to go for the first down, which ultimately came up short.
“We have talked about the call as a team and we believe it was the right decision to go for it in that situation,” Levine said. “It was a tough kick to make from the hash and would’ve put a lot of pressure on our kicker to make it from the spot. It didn’t work out in the way in which we intended at the time, but not every play is going to go the way you want in football.”
Soon after, the Sundevils with a seam across the middle, took the ball all the way, making the score 31-14. Despite the tough result, the players found many positives, such as the Wolverines’ will to come back and ability to stay in the game.
“Obviously, as a team, you always want to come out with a win,” Levine said. “I feel we weren’t able to execute as a team enough, but we have shown that we have what it takes. Some people stepped up when we needed it the most. I just wish we could’ve come up with the win in the end.”
