Roswell Defeats Westlake, Advances To State Championship Game

By Mike Blum

ROSWELL, GA -- Teams in the semifinals of the state 7A football playoffs are not supposed to win as easily Roswell did against Westlake Friday at Atlanta’s Lakewood Stadium.

The Hornets’ consistently exceptional defense put on another dominant display, holding the Lions scoreless despite two Roswell turnovers that gave Westlake the ball deep in Hornets’ territory.

Roswell limited Westlake to nine first downs and 151 yards total offense, and in what is becoming a weekly occurrence, smothered the Lions to the tune of minus-28 yards rushing. Westlake passed for 179 yards against the Hornets, but Roswell intercepted four passes, two of them by Xavier McKinney on consecutive offensive plays by the Lions, who completed only 12 of 33 attempts.

The Roswell offense held up its end, finishing with 412 yards and putting together scoring series of 77, 60, 75 and 80 yards. The Hornets scored one touchdown in each quarter and could have had another TD, but fumbled inside the Westlake 10 with a 21-0 lead late in the third period.

It appeared the Lions were going to score on a 90-yard fumble return, but Roswell receiver Christian “Scooby” Ford ran down the Westlake player who made the recovery at the Lions’ 10 after he went 85 yards to the Roswell 5.

Despite the aid of a personal foul against the Hornets, one of 10 Roswell penalties for 99 yards, the Lions went backwards and botched a 25-yard field goal that would have averted the shutout. The only other scoring chance for the Lions came in the latter stages of the first quarter of a scoreless game.

A Westlake punt bounced off the leg of a Roswell blocker and the Lions fell on the loose ball at the Hornets’ 26. After reaching the 10, the Lions were thwarted by an interception by Roswell linebacker Sam DiRoberto, the first of the night for the ball-hawking Hornets.

The Roswell offense responded, swiftly moving 77 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Malik Willis, who transferred from Westlake to Roswell after his junior season, hit a pair of passes for 18 yards to Jayden Comma, and running back Sheldon Evans shook loose for 36 yards to the Westlake 23.

Willis gained 13 yards before evading would-be Westlake tacklers for six yards and the game’s first score. Evans accounted for the second Roswell TD late in the first half, plowing for three yards on a direct snap to cap a 6-play, 60-yard surge that picked up the other 57 yards through the air. Willis connected with Kentrell Barber twice for 24 yards before hitting Ford on a beautifully thrown deep ball, with the Roswell receiver fighting off a Lions’ defender for a 33-yard reception.

Comma get behind the Lions’ secondary for a 46-yard TD reception from Willis to make is 21-0 late in the third period. McKinney twice got the ball back for the Hornets with consecutive interceptions, but Roswell could not capitalize on either occasion, with the fumble inside the 10 halting the second threat.

After the Lions missed the field goal following the long fumble return, the Hornets went 80 yards, with two pass interference calls against the Lions offsetting a pair of penalties on the Hornets. Westlake was penalized 11 times for 102 yards.

Willis ran for 22 yards and teamed up with Barber for a 19-yard gain before connecting on his second TD pass of the game, an 11-yarder to tight end Tyneil Hopper. The Roswell quarterback completed 17 of 25 passes for 226 yards, boosting his playoff totals to 966 yards. He has tossed 11 touchdown passes in the Hornets’ four playoff wins and rushed for five TDs, and added 49 yards on the ground against the Lions.

The Hornets finished with 196 yards rushing against a talented Westlake defense, with Evans gaining 79 yards on 14 carries before leaving midway through the third period after a Lions’ defender landed in his sore ankle.

Sophomore Jujuan White went the rest of the way at running back and rumbled for 68 yards on 11 attempts. Barber (five catches, 58 yards) and Comma (four for 64) led the Roswell receivers, with Ford adding 51 yards on two catches, and Hopper (three for 33) also contributing.

Defensive end Justin Ellis led the swarming Roswell defense, which had 11 tackles for losses on Westlake’s 19 running plays, eight by the Lions’ quarterback divided evenly between sacks and attempted running plays. Cade Gonzalez had the final interception, with the Hornets’ three second half picks matching the number of receptions for the Lions in the final two periods.

“It’s a credit to the players’ mindset and their coaches,” Roswell head coach John Ford said of the continued outstanding play of the entire Roswell defensive unit. “No matter the adversity, they come to play every day. You’ve got to have that kind of defense if you’re going to be playing in December.”

Willis, who was the quarterback of an explosive Westlake offense that reached the state quarterfinals last year, transferred to Roswell this spring after the Lions’ head coach left the school for another coaching job in the state.

The Lions went 10-4 this season, highlighted by an upset win over Lowndes in the quarterfinals.

“Malik is just a great kid,” Ford said. “You would not have known anything was different this week by the way he prepared. He treated it like any other game.”

This will be the second straight year the Hornets have played in the title game of the state’s largest classification. They were 14-0 before losing to Colquitt County last season, and will take a 14-0 record into the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Dec. 10 against Grayson (13-1), which moved past the Hornets into the No. 1 ranking midway through the season.

“We’re looking for a little different result this time,” Ford said. “We know we have a tough task in front of us.”

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