WESTWOOD – The play was in Ed Mantie’s pocket all along.
The Westwood coach pulled it out at the right time Thursday night against Millis-Hopedale to spark the Wolverines.
Going through the motions after their first possession yielded a touchdown, Mantie called for a halfback pass late in the second quarter. The Antonucci brothers ran it to near-perfection.
Senior running back Rob Antonucci took a pitch in the backfield and lofted a pass to junior wide receiver Jake Antonucci, who reeled it in for a 51-yard touchdown reception to ignite Westwood to a 36-6 win over the Mohawks at Flahive Field.
“We always got to have a trick play in there somewhere and we’ve been tinkering with that a little bit,” Mantie said. “We just needed a little bit of a jumpstart. We were going through the mud a little bit there early in the game. When you got kids like this that make plays and know each other real well, it made sense to do.”
Jake Antonucci was the spark plug for Westwood (3-2) as he finished with six catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns. His final score came with 13 seconds left before halftime when junior quarterback Reed Wilson hit him down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown pass to take a 22-0 advantage.
“When you have a quarterback like Reed Wilson, he’s got a heckuva arm,” said Jake Antonucci, who also opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown reception. “Our offense just clicks like that. If we get going, we get going.”
Well in control, Westwood ended any notion of a Millis-Hopedale (3-2) comeback with its opening drive in the second half. The Wolverines marched 72 yards in 11 plays for a score, but the series was kept alive thanks to two key third down conversions.
Westwood even managed to pick up a first down while facing a 3rd-and-20, as Wilson connected with Jake Antonucci for 27 yards. Two plays later, Rob Antonucci took a handoff into the end zone from six yards out and Miles Heesepelink added the extra point to go up, 29-0, with 7:01 remaining in the third quarter.
“We just talked about finishing,” Mantie said. “Taking care of business and competing and not looking at the scoreboard.”
While Millis-Hopedale’s offense struggled, its lone bright spot came on the ensuing possession when Bryce Latosek tossed a 61-yard touchdown pass to Brian Espanet.
Millis-Hopedale’s offense never got into any rhythm, though, as Westwood’s defensive line continually got pressure on Latosek and never allowed the Mohawks to sustain a rushing attack.
“That was one of the keys to game,” Mantie said. “We’ve given up a ton of points the first four games. I thought our run defense played very well. We were stout up the middle.”
Wilson, who also was impressive by completing 14-of-25 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, capped the scoring with 1:23 left in the third quarter with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Linehan (four catches, 77 yards).
“If we’re doing the things we’re supposed to be doing, it should be a very difficult offense to stop,” Mantie said. “We can spread the field. You can’t dedicate one player to stop us because we can get the ball to both sides of the field. Reed does a good job distributing the football and seeing the field well. Sky’s the limit if we can play like that.”
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