Westlake upends Northern, 48-33, in Parrish’s coaching debut
September 7, 2024
OWINGS, Md. — In DaLawn Parrish’s first game as head coach of Westlake, the Wolverines scored early and often to knock off Northern on the road, 48-33, on Friday evening. Westlake running back Devin Cox accounted for five total touchdowns in the game and paced the Wolverines offensive attack.
Coming off of an appearance last season in the State Semifinals, Northern looked to begin its season strong defending its home turf, but Westlake had other ideas. The Wolverines took the opening kickoff, quickly moved down the field, and found the end zone first on a 17-yard pass from junior quarterback William Drakeford, Jr. to Jayden Pritchett. Westlake would add the 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
Only a minute and a half later, Northern would respond with a 17-yard touchdown pass of their own from quarterback Alex Moskios to Miles Halbert. But Westlake would grab momentum right back, as Devin Cox returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. And a mere minute and a half later, after a tip and interception by defensive lineman Braydin Erdolino on Northern’s first play, Cox would cross the goal line from 9 yards out. Another successful 2-point conversion bumped Westlake to a 23-7 lead.
After forcing Northern to go for it on 4th down and long from its own 20-yard line, the Wolverines defense got the ball back for its offense, and once more Cox found the end zone from a yard away, and Westlake had its fourth touchdown of the opening quarter.
Northern would tally the next two scores of the game: a 1-yard rush on a direct snap to Halbert, and a 5-yard pass from quarterback Blake Pasik to Michael Fagan. The Patriots seemed to be settling down on defense, and had closed the gap to a 29-21 deficit with still eight minutes before halftime. But, after both teams turned the ball over on downs, Westlake found one more score with nine seconds before halftime as Drakeford connected with a wide open Arthur Pierre-Antoine from six yards away to give the Wolverines a 36-21 lead at the break.
The second half started with a lot of back-and-forth and both teams seeming unable to move the ball after some halftime adjustments. Northern was the first team to the end zone as Pasik took off and run 13 yards for the score, but the extra point was blocked, and Westlake still held a 36-27 lead going to the fourth quarter.
Westlake would take the momentum right back in the new quarter, two more touchdowns on the legs of Cox. One score from 29 yards away, and another from 63 yards out. Northern had one last gasp, and Halbert scored on another direct snap, but the Wolverines ran the clock out to secure a 48-33 victory.
Westlake moves to 1-0 in the DaLawn Parrish era, after moving over from Wise in the off-season, and will play another tough SMAC opponent in Calvert next week. Northern falls to 0-1 and will host Lackey in its next game.
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