WELLS – Wells may be the Warriors, but Westbrook turned out to be true road warriors Friday night.

The Blue Blazes went on the road and beat the defending Class B state champions 28-20 in a back-and-forth affair, avenging a pair of losses to Wells last season and ending the Warriors’ 13-game total winning streak and 14-game home winning streak, a run that stretched back to 2009.

On the heels of an opening-week 30-0 win over the Campbell Conferences’ other perennial power Mountain Valley, in just two short weeks Westbrook has made a statement and cemented itself as the team to beat in Western Class B.

“This is a huge win,” said senior running back Ben Grant. “For our momentum with two wins at the beginning of the season, it’s crazy, you can’t beat that, especially against two teams that killed us in the beginning (of last year).”

In that Week 1 win over the Falcons, Westbrook had done nearly all of its damage on the ground, as Grant and Cale Bollig combined for 271 yards and four touchdowns. But against a stout Wells defense that was clogging the middle and keying on Grant and Bollig, the Blazes were forced into a more balanced attack Friday.

Collin Joyce led the rushing attack with 44 yards on the ground and caught two touchdown passes while quarterback Kyle Heath completed 9 of 13 passes for 127 yards, with Aaron Duncanson catching five of those balls for 77 yards.

Getting it done through the air as well as on the ground was a good early-season sign for Westbrook coach Jeff Guerette.

“We were able to stay balanced tonight, which is big for us,” Guerette said. “I think we can do a little bit of both when we have to. We weren’t running the ball as well as we were hoping to tonight, but were able to step up and make some big plays in the passing game, and I think that was exciting.”

While they came away with the victory, Westbrook made it a little harder than it needed to be as the clock wound down. It looked like the Blazes had taken control for good with 4:50 to play when Bollig bulldozed his way into the end zone from four yards out for his second score of the game.

But the champions weren’t ready to give up their winning streak that easily. They drove the ball back down the field to the Westbrook 22, where on first down quarterback Gavin Snapp threw up a jump ball to receiver Chris Carney at the goal line. Heath outleaped Carney but tipped the ball straight up in the air, which Carney came down with to make it 28-20 with 2:27 left.

Wells missed the extra point and Grant recovered the Warriors’ ensuing onside kick, but Joyce then fumbled on their first play from scrimmage to give Wells the ball past midfield.

With all the momentum and a rowdy, hostile crowd against them, a tired Blazes defense easily could have folded against a Wells ground game that had been a force all night. Instead it stiffened, stopping fullback Dante Fanning on fourth and 5 from the 39 to preserve the victory.

“With them ending our season last year, this is huge,” Heath said. “We just worked hard all week and believed in each other, and we just found a way to execute get it done.”

Westbrook had twice taken the lead in the first three quarters, but each time Wells scored on its ensuing drive as the game headed into the fourth knotted at 14. Westbrook faced a third and 10 from its own 38 to start the quarter, when Heath dropped the snap in the shotgun and was forced to scramble to his right before launching the ball towards the sideline.

The quarterback said the ball had been intended for Duncanson, but Bollig came out of nowhere to grab the ball for a 26-yard drive sustaining catch.

“That was just Kyle Heath making a football play,” Guerette said. “That’s why we have him there at quarterback. I don’t want to say he turned something into nothing, but he made a heck of a play and Bollig made a great catch.”

Three plays later Westbrook took the lead for good with 10:36 to play when Joyce scored second touchdown of the game on a 13-yard swing pass.

In just his second game at quarterback at the varsity level, Heath has already grown into the dual threat option Guerette envisioned when he switched the junior over from the running back position he played last year.

“I thought he grew leaps and bounds from last week,” Guerette said of Heath’s performance. “He’s our leader, he’s one of the guys that our kids turn to and that’s why we have him there. He finds a way to make plays.”

After beating Westbrook 28-14 in Week 2 last season, Wells went on collect a 12-0 record and a Gold Ball. But even with the impressive start, it’s a tad early for Guerette and his team to start thinking about doing the same thing.

“We have plenty of things to work on when we go back and watch the tape,” Guerette said. “Give Wells a lot of credit, but I don’t think we played anywhere near a perfect football game. It’s great to be 2-0, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Westbrook fullback Cale Bollig weaves his way through the line to score his second touchdown of the game to put his team up 28-14 late in the quarter last Friday night against Wells. The Blazes held on to defeat the defending Class B state champions 28-20. (Staff photos by Cameron Dunbar)
Westbrook defensive back Collin Joyce dives in an attempt to tackle Wells fullback Dakota Fanning in the fourth quarter. Joyce caught two touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball as the Blazes went of to defeat the defending Class B state champions 28-20.
The Westbrook offensive line squares off against the Wells defensive line on the goal line in the third quarter of the Blue Blazes’ 28-20 win against the Warriors Friday night. Westbrook fullback Cale Bollig  would score seconds later to give the Blazes a 14-6 lead.
Westbrook’s Kyle Heath drops back to pass.