WESTVILLE — The Westville football team has improved every week of the season.
But with the postseason, improvement also brings a chance for the senior players to do something they have not done yet in their careers: Win a playoff game.
“Our freshman year we lost, we played a good Rockridge team in sophomore year and it didn’t work out last year,” Westville senior Easton Barney said. “This year, we have a good seed, we like our matchup and we are ready to go.”
“Our goals was to get better every week. It was to show improvement every day and I feel we have done that,” Westville head coach Guy Goodlove said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from them. The game last year at Chester left a bad taste in our mouth and we should have won. These kids have stepped up and delivered and they have done everything we have asked them in the field and in school.”
Last year’s team went 6-4 and had to go on the road, but with an 9-0 record, the Tigers are hosing 5-4 Shelbyville today at 2 p.m.
“Going 9-0 was important for us. We wanted our first game to be at home and here we are,” Goodlove said. “I think we have a great environment here and we have great support from our community and they support us really well. It will be exciting to have this game at home with the crowd support. The town should be fired up and we are looking forward to it.”
“We have been taking it week by week and practicing hard. We are going as hard as we can and the scoreboard has been in our favor so far,” Barney said.” Conference was a little down this year, but it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we are just trying to get better every game.”
One of the improvements has been on offense where Goodlove has been able to utilize all of his weapons.
“We made a philosophical change to the Wing-T because we have so many players and we wanted to spread the wealth,” Goodlove said. “We don’t have guys with a lot of yards and touchdowns but everyone touches the ball and everyone has play-making ability. If you look at Lincoln Cravens, Jack Ajster and Easton Barney’s stats, they won’t jump out at you, but if you focus on one, another will make it happen. We have Landon Coon at receiver and he is as good as any one in the area in catching the ball. The kid who has really come out is Bryson Poortmans. The Wing-T needs a big body and a blocking tight end. He’s really played well for us and we are proud of that and at 6-4, he is a big body and is hard to stop.
“The kid that people fail to mention is our quarterback Easton Bolin. He has a great athlete and if you forget about him, he has an ability to break out big plays. What makes all those guys successful is the guys up front. Ethan Miller, Grant Beckley, Jason Smith, Braden Barrett and Reid Smith. Those guys have done an phenomenal job up front. They are big and strong and their feet move. They are quick and they have made everything that we do easier and they have done a fine job for us.”
“Our line across the board are huge and fun to run behind and we have three running backs who can touch the ball and score,” Barney said. “You have Coon out there catching the ball and he’s a monster out there and our quarterback is one of the most athletic players on the field and can score from anywhere.”
Most of the same players also standout on defense
“Defensively, we have Ethan Miller, Braden Barrett, Reid Smith, Kendall Newell and Bleighten Irelan sharing on defensive tackle and we can keep them fresh,” Goodlove said. “We have Grant Beckley and Bryson Poortmans on defensive end and it is nice to have a 6-2 and a 6-4 player on defensive end.
“We have Lincoln Cravens and Easton Barney at linebacker and they are able to recognize formations and plug holes when they need to be plugged. We have Jack Ajster, Chaz Alvarez, Landon Coon and Easton Bolin. We arrive quickly on the ball and we have done a great job of tackling.”
The Rams are 5-4 and are coming off two losses to end the regular season. Even with that, Goodlove is not overlooking anything they do.
“Shelbyville does a little bit of everything. They have a lot of formations and are very tough to prepare for,” Goodlove said. “One minute, they are in the spread and then they run trips, they run the I and they are in the max formation. We have to worry about defending the whole field because they have the ability to run the ball and pass if need be and they do it from different formations.”
While Goodlove said the players are talking about breaking this playoff drought, he says that the continual improvement of the team is the most important today.
“Our coaches have focused on getting better every day and the wins will take care of themselves,” Goodlove said. “These kids are aware that they don’t want to go through their playoff career without a playoff win, but our focus is to get better so we can win some more games. It’s been a great group and they have been a strong team in all areas of the game and they have played well this season and they hope it will continue.”
The game will start at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on WHRK-FM 94.9.
Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (6-3) will hit the road today to take on Pana (8-1) at 1 p.m.
The Blue Devils has won six of their last seven games, while the Panthers have won their last six games in a row. While BHRA depends on the running game with Issac Cahill, Liam Parish and Mason Cunningham, Pana has a more balanced attack with Parker Moore passing for more than 1,154 yards and 15 touchdowns and Cayden Durbin rushing for 975 yards and five scores.