Ghosts Defeat Waltham After Ugly Fourth Quarter

What happens when you get a football game that neither team appears interested in winning? The answer was on display at on Friday night.

The scoreboard would make it look as though the Grey Ghosts had little trouble against the visiting Waltham Hawks in their 38-25 Senior Night victory, but the fact that they were leading 38-7 at one point spoke volumes to a season that has been constantly juxtaposed between superlatives and disappointments.

Westford got off to a slow start as Waltham’s Darius Holloway drew first blood, returning an interception off Justin Mount 35 yards for a touchdown near the end of the first quarter. However, Mount quickly redeemed himself, taking a run into the end zone just seconds later to begin what would be 38 unanswered points for Westford.

Just as the game appeared to be out of reach late in the contest, Waltham came back to life thanks in large part to a fumble from Westford junior varsity quarterback Lucas LeBleu, which was returned for six by the Hawks’ Jacob Duffrene, followed by another Waltham fumble recovery score later in the quarter by Junior Chery.

Hawks quarterback Kyle Nocera joined Duffrene and Chery with a fourth quarter score of his own, but Waltham squandered their opportunities to pull off the upset, giving up a trio of needless penalties late in the half and not converting and additional points off the streak of fourth quarter touchdowns.

“Westford’s a good team, they played physical, and I’m not sure we matched that tonight,” said Waltham head coach John Bourque.  “My hat’s off to them, they executed well, and things went their way.”

The near comeback was aided in part not just by LeBleu’s fumble, but also a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties given up in the red zone by Westford Academy late in the contest.

“It was just (our players) not closing their mouths,” said Westford Academy head coach Rich McKenna. “It was uncharacteristic of us, usually we take pride in the discipline we have around here.  All of those penalties were uncharacteristic, and the kids are certainly going to pay for them, that was completely unacceptable.”

The late troubles obscured good nights from Alex Eaton, who ran for 83 yards on 21 attempts with a touchdown on the ground, and the five extra points and field goal from Alex Locker. However, the main story of the night outside the near comeback was the night of Mount.

He exemplified the team’s back and forth persona, thrilling on the ground with 246 yards and three rushing touchdowns, but struggling in the air with a 2 for 9 passing night, ending with a passing touchdown to go along with the early interception.

Although Mount may still have problems in certain areas when it comes to filling the shoes of fallen opening day starter Troy Faretra, his coach believes that his abilities have increased dramatically over the past few weeks.

“(Mount’s) an incredible football player, he has the size and the speed, but most importantly the leadership,” said McKenna. “His knack for making plays at the right time is something we love to have.”

Duffrene led the Hawks with 73 yard on 15 carries.

Westford (5-4) will seek to end their season on a high note with a makeup game in Beantown against Boston Latin on Thursday, followed by their Turkey Day rivalry against Acton-Boxborough finish things up. Meanwhile Waltham (4-5) squares off on the road against Malden Catholic in their Thanksgiving showdown.