Friday night saw the season openers for the River Dell Hawks and rival Westwood Cardinals as they battled each other for bragging rights and an opportunity to lay claim to the Bird Bowl trophy.
Westwood jumped out early on the opening drive when Ryan Galloway intercepted a pass thrown by Hawks QB Tim Barnes and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals an 8-0 lead. But the Hawks answered back, marching downfield on the legs of John Budka, and capping off the drive with a 15-yard TD reception by Ryan Duran. The seesaw scoring continued, with the Hawks going into half-time with a 22-15 lead.
The second half saw both offenses struggle, and the name of the game was defense. Westwood was led by Chris Napoli, who registered five tackles and a sack; but it was River Dell's John Budka who continually burned them on screen routes, finishing the game with 105 yards rushing and one touchdown.
Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
River Dell added one more touchdown late in the forth which proved to be all they needed as Jeremy Taylor just couldn’t get his Cardinal offensive teammates to respond.
