Football Preview: Westfield Bulldogs vs. James Madison Warhawks
Westfield and James Madison are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2016, but not for long. The Westfield Bulldogs will venture away from home to challenge the James Madison Warhawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Westfield sitting on four straight victories and James Madison on six.
Westfield's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Wakefield 63-0 at home. Considering the Bulldogs have won three games by more than 42 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Westfield found their leader in underclassman Malachi Lee, who rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown. Lee was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 65 yards. Connor Morin made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Westfield was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 304 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 184 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Westfield didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off five passes before the game was over. Jay Rennyson and Morin were the leaders of the group effort as each produced two apiece.
Meanwhile, James Madison blew past South County, posting a 42-0 win on the road. Given the Warhawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Stallions are ranked 103rd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Westfield's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for James Madison, their win was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-0.
Westfield suffered a grim 31-7 defeat to James Madison in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of James Madison's Dominic Knicely, who rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.3 yards per carry. Now that Westfield knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
