Miscues Plague Medfield in 28-7 Loss to Westwood

Three bad snaps on special teams and three offensive turnovers plagued the football team Thursday in a 28-7 loss to Westwood.

In two league games this season, Medfield (1-4, 0-2) has been outscored 70-21 and has struggled offensively converting possessions into points. On Thursday, it was lack of execution on special teams that contributed to the team's second straight TVL Large Division loss.

“The biggest challenge was we had a bad snap,” Medfield head coach Erik Ormberg said. “I’m more concerned about our bad snaps and special teams than I am the offense. We didn’t really give the offense a chance because of a couple big mistakes on special teams.”

On three punt attempts, Medfield had two snaps sail over the punter’s head, one being ruled a safety and a third high snap bobbled, which turned into a broken play that resulted in a loss of yards and turnover on downs.

Despite the miscues on special teams, Medfield’s defense kept Westwood off the scoreboard following the poor execution on special teams. The Wolverines only points from the bad snaps came on the safety recorded with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter.

“The defense responded on more than one occasion,” Ormberg said. “We had a couple of times where we couldn’t get off the field on fourth down, which is tough, but they’ve been in those situations before and hopefully we’ll continue to learn from them and get off the field on fourth down.”

Westwood opened the game on a 13-play, 6:10 drive that resulted in quarterback Glenn Parsons connecting with receiver Nick Wisialko on a 12-yard touchdown pass. The extra point failed but the Wolverines jumped ahead early, 6-0.

Medfield’s first bad snap on a punt attempt came in the second quarter and set Westwood up on the seven-yard-line. But the Warriors’ defense rose to the occassion and kept the Wolverines (5-0, 1-0) out of the endzone and off the scoreboard after a missed field goal attempt on fourth down.

Later in the quarter, Westwood sustained its second scoring drive of the half as Brandon Rodenbush scored on a two-yard run with 3:19 remaining in the quarter. The Wolverines failed on the two-point conversion but went ahead 12-0.

Medfield answered with its lone score of the game, a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alex Opiela with 1:25 remaining in the half set up by the hard running of Sam Tawa. The extra point was good and the Warriors trailed Westwood 12-7 heading into the break.

After half, it was all Westwood, outscoring Medfield 16-0. The Warriors’ offense committed three turnovers in the half – a fumble and two interceptions – and Westwood scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Neville ran in for a touchdown from three yards out with 8:44 remaining and Parsons scored on a quarterback keeper from two yards out with 50.9 seconds remaining.

Medfield, playing hard to the final whistle, drove down the field on its final possession, getting to Westwood’s one-yard line with one second remaining on the clock. However, an Opiela pass was tipped and intercepted by Westwood as time expired.

“I think Westwood is a tough team, they’re aggressive, they fly to the ball,” Ormberg said. “They play good defense and they had a good offensive game plan so I give them a lot of credit. Our guys hung in there and fought to the end. I’m proud of them. It would have been nice to punch one in at the end but Westwood’s a good team.”

Next up for Medfield is Bellingham on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. on the MHS turf. In the new Tri-Valley League format, Bellingham will not be counted as a league game for the Warriors.   

Check Medfield Patch Friday for video highlights and a photo gallery from Thursday's game.