Reynaldo Ramirez of Westwood football
After battling Forrest to a halftime tie, the Westwood Rockets saw 2 crucial 4th quarter fumbles and the size and strength of the visitors take over in the second half as Westwood fell 35 to 12 on Thursday night in Duck River Valley Conference football action. Westwood ran 19 plays in the 1st half to Forrest’s 7 plays and outgained the Chapel Hill Rockets in yardage 100 to 49 at the intermission. In the second half, Forrest scored on all 3 of their offensive possessions and returned a fumble 50 yards for a score to dominate after halftime.
Coach Chad Dyer saw his team execute his offensive strategy to perfection in the first half as they controlled the time of possession and kept the ball away from Forrest. After recovering a Forrest fumble, Westwood got an early 6 to 0 lead when Reynaldo Ramirez rumbled over from 2 yards out with 3:47 remaining in the half to give Westwood their only lead of the game. Forrest tied the game on the ensuing possession when Cason Warner rumbled 36 yards for a touchdown a mere 34 seconds later. The score remained tied headed to the half. In the second half, Forrest took the kickoff down the field to score a touchdown and 2 point conversion. Westwood got a 4 yard TD run from Ramirez to close the gap to 2 points, but a pair of 4th quarter fumbles sealed the Rockets fate.
Ramirez had 15 carries for 65 yards for Westwood on the night while Trenton Thompson added 11 carries for 52 yards. Skylar Bratcher completed the lone pass of the game to Thompson for 60 yards. That pass converted a crucial 1st down in the opening touchdown drive for the Rockets.
Westwood has a busy week next week with a pair of games. On Tuesday, the Rockets host Middle Tennessee Christian at Dyer-Bouldin Field. On Thursday, Westwood travels to Wartrace to take on Cascade. Both games will kick off at 6:30 PM.
