Wayland Couldn't Surmount Westford's Mount in 38-19 Defeat

For much of the 2011 Westford Academy football season, there was a clear answer for the question of "Who is most likely to score five touchdowns in one game?" Fortunately for the Grey Ghosts, that question now appears to have two answers.

With Alex Eaton sidelined, quarterback Justin Mount led the way for Westford Academy in their 38-19 victory over Wayland at home on Friday.

Mount began the year on offense as a wide reciever, but began to get snaps at quarterback after starter Troy Faretra was sidelined earlier in the year against Groton-Dunstable with a shoulder injury. 

During Mount's first few games at quarterback, he shared duties behind center with underclassman Lucas LeBleu while still lining up as a reciever on passing downs. However, the loss of Eaton necessitated him taking a leadership role against the Warriors, even if Westford Academy head coach Rich McKenna didn't think the circumstances of Eaton's injury or the hopes of bouncing back after last week's humiliating loss against Concord-Carlisle.

"I don't think (Mount) stepped up any more than he always does, he's a great football player," said McKenna.

He began his with a break through a fooled Wayland defense midway through the first and grabbed his second score near the half in his role on defense in the secondary.

While Wayland's Dayleon MacKenzie also had a pair of touchdowns before halftime, Mount wouldn't be denied, finishing his night with another pair of rushing touchdowns and a 90-yard punt return to help seal the victory for the Ghosts.

Despite Mount's athleticism, he also got a bit of luck, narrowly avoiding a trio of interceptions at various points on the night, a set of near flaws that McKenna believes will subside over time.

"(Mount's) an athlete, and (with) our offense, we can put an athlete at quarterback and let him run around and have fun," said McKenna. "He'll get it down, he just started becoming a quarterback last week, but I'll tell you, he looked phenomenal in practice. He can be a quarterback or anything else he wants on this team."

The luck cut both ways as Wayland couldn't capitalize on opportunities such as a pair of punts they recovered deep in Westford territory, the first of which was immediately followed by Mount's pick six.

"We had some chances, (but) we didn't play well, offense, defense or special teams," said Wayland head coach Scott Parseghian. "Once you get those opportunities, you gotta score, and we couldn't do that."

Wayland (2-5) will hope to reverseits  fortunes next Saturday on the road against Newton South.